˝ ˇ ˛˚ ˚˜ ˜ ˚˜ ˇ$ · As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, ... the Wankhede Stadium...

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T he Supreme Court-man- dated Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) on Friday declared a “public health emergency” in Delhi-NCR after air pollution breached records of the season. The EPCA imposed a ban on all construction activities till November 5. The Air Quality Index (AQI) shot up to 484 in Delhi and 496, 496 and 469 in Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Gurugram respectively. With rising values of pollutants, Delhi map turned into dark maroon signifying “severe plus category”. The EPCA also ordered shutting of all coal-based plants, diesel generator sets, bursting of crackers in Delhi- NCR till November 5. Meanwhile, the contribu- tion of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana to Delhi’s pollution rose to 46 per cent on Friday, the highest this year, said System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). PM 2.5 reached 383 ug/m3, highest in season which is equivalent to 500 plus on the AQI (severe plus), SAFAR said. In the wake of the rising level of pollution, the Delhi Government on Friday decid- ed to shut all schools till November 5. Also, earlier in the day Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal distributed masks to school children as part of the Government’s ini- tiative to protect them from pollution and also explained children about the ill effects of stubble burning on air quality. “I would also like all the students to write letters to Khattar Uncle and Captain Uncle to provide machinery and equipment to farmers to stop them from burning stub- ble in Punjab and Haryana,” the Delhi CM told students. With the blanket of haze over Delhi thickened on Friday, EPCA chief Bhure Lal wrote a letter to the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana. “The EPCA has directed imple- menting agencies to take immediate stringent actions to stop stubble-burning in Punjab and Haryana. This requires vigilance and punitive action against all cases of local pollution, from plastic and garbage burning to dust pollu- tion,” Lal said. SAFAR said chances of deterioration in AQI of Delhi in first week of November is mainly due to the late with- drawal of monsoon forcing stagnant conditions. “The effective stubble fire counts of north west India (Haryana and Punjab) touched a new peak value of this year (3178) on Thursday,” it said. However, Delhittes can draw solace from the fact that the westerly wind direction is likely to bring some breather. “The western disturbance is likely to positively influence Delhi’s air quality by increasing surface and boundary layer winds speed and thereby flush- ing out the accumulated pol- lutants. By November 3, sig- nificant improvement is likely and further by November 4.” According to US Embassy at New Delhi database, on an average, concentration of pol- lutants in Vasundhara, Anand Vihar, Sectors 62, 125 of Noida and Okhla recorded severe plus AQI category. According to Central Pollution Control Board, AQI in Palwal was 369, Panipat 421, Rohtak 467, Sirsa 462. The health bulletin rec- ommended people to avoid physical activities outdoors. “Stop any activity level if you experience any unusual cough- ing, chest discomfort, wheez- ing, breathing difficulty, or fatigue, and consult doctor. “If the room has windows, close them. If the air condi- tioner provides a fresh air intake option, close it. Avoid burning anything, such as wood, candles or even incense. Keep the room clean — do not vacuum. Do wet mopping fre- quently. Masks known as N-95 or P-100 respirators may help if you go out. Do not rely on dust masks for protection,” it said. T he Election Commission (EC) on Friday announced a five-phase Assembly election schedule in Jharkhand between November 30 and December 20, with the counting to be held on December 23. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said the polls will be held in the Naxalism-affected State on November 30, December 7, 12, 16 and 20. As many as 19 districts are sensitive and 13 worst-affected by Left-wing extremism in the State. The term of the Jharkhand Assembly ends on January 5 next year. The elections to the 81-seat Jharkhand Assembly would test the popularity of Chief Minister Raghubhar Das and the BJP, which would be pitted against the Opposition grand alliance spearheaded by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) that hopes to give a tough fight to Das who is claiming to repeat BJP’s win in the polls with a “record 65 seats”. Das is the first non-tribal to become Jharkhand’s Chief Minister. Tribals, though, make the single-biggest chunk of voters in the State with around 26 per cent total population, as per the 2011 census. As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, where prior to elections sever- al Opposition MPs and MLAs crossed over to the BJP creat- ing a buzz for the party, Jharkhand also witnessed the saffron party roping in six Opposition MLAs — two each from the Congress and the JMM, one from Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) and one indepen- dent — in October. The JMM-headed Opposition is pinning its hopes on the anti-incumbency factors working at the local level along with price-rise and unemploy- ment giving it a leg-up in the poll. The BJP-led NDA in 2014 collected 43 seats and jacked it up further by pulling in 6 JVP (P) MLAs in 2015 to sit pretty with a dominant majority. State Congress president Rameshwar Oraon claimed defections will not have any impact and the BJP will be crushed in Jharkhand. “They got much less than what they were expecting in Haryana and Maharashtra. The half- done exercise — to oust them from power — will now be completed in Jharkhand,” Oraon said. “We will soon announce the formation of grand alliance comprising at least four polit- ical parties, JMM, Congress, JVM (P) and the RJD,” said JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya, adding, “We are working to finalise the seat- sharing formula.” Bhattacharya claimed JMM’s working president and the Leader of the Opposition, Hemant Soren, will be the chief ministerial face of the grand alliance.” The BJP, which currently rules the State in an alliance with the All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU), hopes for better results than it record- ed in Maharashtra and Haryana where results were below par its expectations. T he political posturing between the saffron alliance partners over the sharing of power in Maharashtra contin- ued on Friday, as Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that if it so desired his party could form its Government and senior Sudhir Mungantiwar handed out veiled threat to its ally that the State would come under the President’s Rule if the Government was formed before November 7. On a day when the State Congress leaders met AICC president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi to seek permission from the Congress high command to explore the possibility of extend- ing support to the Shiv Sena-led Government in Maharashtra, the Sena and BJP leaders indulged in bitter battle of nerves for the eight consecutive day after the saffron alliance partners collectively managed to retain power in the State. Raut, who had met NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday in an apparent bid to fish in troubled waters, upped the ante on Friday. Talking to mediapersons, Raut said: “If the BJP fails to implement the agreement (on the power shar- ing) reached with us ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, we have other options open. The man- date has not been given to any one party but has been given to both the BJP and Shiv Sena...If the Shiv Sena makes up its mind, it can form a Government in the State. And the Chief Minister will be from the Shiv Sena, a nominee decided by Sena president Uddhav Thackeray”. Not to be outdone by the Shiv Sena, senior BJP leader and Finance Minister in the outgoing Government Sudhir Mungantiwar mounted pres- sure on his party’s younger ally to agree post haste to form a Government in alliance with his party, by saying: “If the Government is not formed before November 7, then Maharashtra will come under the President’s Rule.” While agreeing that there has been some delay in the start of negotiations between the two parties due to the Diwali festi- val and some reasons, Mungantiwar expressed hope that talks would begin in the two days. People of Maharashtra have given man- date not to any party but to the Mahayuti (alliance compris- ing BJP, Shiv Sena and other parties)” ...Our alliance is stronger than Fevicol or Ambuja Cement”. Expressing hope that the new Government would assume office soon, Mungnatiwar handed out covert but polite warning to the Shiv Sena, by saying: “A new Government will have to be in place within the stipulated time, or else the President will have to intervene.... The President’s Rule will be imposed if the Government formation doesn’t happen in the given time”. Mungantiwar indirectly pointed out that the BJP was in no position to give Chief Minister’s post on a rotational basis to the Shiv Sena. Mungantiwar said, “We have already named Devendra Fadnavis for the post”. Mungnatiwar said that the BJP would take a lead in the formation of Government in the State. “We will first sit across and break the deadlock at the State-level. If necessary, the Central BJP leadership will intervene and resolve the issues between the two parties”. The BJP’s keenness to form the Government at the earliest should be seen in the light of fact that the party has booked the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai for swearing-in ceremony on November 5. C ontrary to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s asser- tions that stubble burning in Delhi’s neighbouring States contributes to the Capital’s deadly pollution, the Centre has told the Supreme Court in an affidavit that crop stubble burning has declined nearly 41 per cent between 2016 and 2018 in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. According to the affidavit filed by the Union Environment Ministry in the Supreme Court, Punjab remained at the bottom of Delhi’s adjoining States in reducing its share of the toxic haze. For his part, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday at an event slammed Kejriwal for “politicising” the issue of air pollution and indulging in a blamegame as the air quality in Delhi-NCR deteri- orated further. In its affidavit filed on the direction of the top court on October 22, the Central Government had admitted that stubble burning is a chief cause of bad air in Delhi- NCR in the months of October and November. The Government added that it is taking all possible measures, including additional budgetary allocation to the States of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, to reduce the menace. The Ministry cited a Government-mandated study conducted using satellite remote sensing to lay down statistics regarding reduction in the crop stubble burning. It said there has been a reduction of about 15 per cent and 41 per cent in the number of burning events in 2018 as compared to 2017 and 2016, respectively. T here has been a significant drop in the number of migratory birds that normally visit in the Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP) in the national Capital during this time. This year, only 22 birds arrived in the YBP, which is quite low as compared to the last five years, especially during September - October period. Ornithologists in Delhi said low presence of birds in wetland and sanctuaries can be attributed to climate change but their route also plays pivotal role in marking their presence in Delhi-NCR. “Yes… bird sighting is low this year in October. There are several factors affecting. First is the local climate of Europe, Siberia and Central Asia. This year, there is a change in tem- perature there,” said Dr Faiyaz Khudsar. Inadequate vegetation in wetland is also a factor in lowering the number of winged guests, the bird watchers said. “Birds come here to enjoy climate. They gain weight and younger birds come first, there are several indicators in and around wetland area, phrag- mites, a type of grass, is one,” Dr Khudsar explained. New Delhi: As air pollution reached alarming levels, hospi- tals reported a surge in the number of patients. “Patients are coming with complaints of watery eyes, cough, breathing difficulty, exacerbation of asth- ma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD),” said AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria. SR T hree-day-long Rajyotsava function got off to a glit- tering start on Friday evening after it was inaugurat- ed by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. It was the 20th foundation day of the State and distin- guished guests across the State graced the inaugural function held at local science college ground here. Host of Ministers in Bhupesh Baghel Cabinet were present on the occasion, who later inspected the stalls of various Government depart- ments which are showcasing their innovations. Culture Minister Amarjeet Bhagat who is hosting the event, welcomed the Chief Minister with traditional head- dress of ‘Madia’ tribes and also with traditional ‘Khumri’ hat. A strong local touch was there in this year’s foundation day function as cultural programmes of only folk-groups were included in it instead of performances from artistes of Bollywood and Chhollywood. The centre of attraction on Friday was the performance of folksongs and dances, includ- ing of Surguja band and the performance of Pandwani. Among the stalls of Government departments, the Agriculture Departments’ stall based on State Government’s flagship scheme Narva Garva Ghurva Badi (NGGB) catches the eyeballs due to its unique display of efforts being made for strengthening rural economy. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

Transcript of ˝ ˇ ˛˚ ˚˜ ˜ ˚˜ ˇ$ · As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, ... the Wankhede Stadium...

Page 1: ˝ ˇ ˛˚ ˚˜ ˜ ˚˜ ˇ$ · As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, ... the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai for swearing-in ceremony on November 5. ˘˘ ... Government-mandated

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The Supreme Court-man-dated Environment

Pollution Control Authority(EPCA) on Friday declared a“public health emergency” inDelhi-NCR after air pollutionbreached records of the season.The EPCA imposed a ban onall construction activities tillNovember 5.

The Air Quality Index(AQI) shot up to 484 in Delhiand 496, 496 and 469 inGhaziabad, Greater Noida andGurugram respectively. Withrising values of pollutants,Delhi map turned into darkmaroon signifying “severeplus category”.

The EPCA also orderedshutting of all coal-basedplants, diesel generator sets,bursting of crackers in Delhi-NCR till November 5.

Meanwhile, the contribu-tion of stubble burning inPunjab and Haryana to Delhi’spollution rose to 46 per cent onFriday, the highest this year,said System of Air Quality andWeather Forecasting andResearch (SAFAR). PM 2.5reached 383 ug/m3, highest inseason which is equivalent to500 plus on the AQI (severeplus), SAFAR said.

In the wake of the risinglevel of pollution, the DelhiGovernment on Friday decid-ed to shut all schools tillNovember 5. Also, earlier in theday Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal distributedmasks to school children aspart of the Government’s ini-tiative to protect them frompollution and also explained

children about the ill effects ofstubble burning on air quality.

“I would also like all thestudents to write letters toKhattar Uncle and CaptainUncle to provide machineryand equipment to farmers tostop them from burning stub-ble in Punjab and Haryana,” theDelhi CM told students.

With the blanket of hazeover Delhi thickened on Friday,EPCA chief Bhure Lal wrote aletter to the Chief Secretaries ofPunjab and Haryana. “TheEPCA has directed imple-menting agencies to takeimmediate stringent actionsto stop stubble-burning inPunjab and Haryana. Thisrequires vigilance and punitiveaction against all cases of localpollution, from plastic andgarbage burning to dust pollu-tion,” Lal said.

SAFAR said chances ofdeterioration in AQI of Delhiin first week of November ismainly due to the late with-drawal of monsoon forcingstagnant conditions. “Theeffective stubble fire counts ofnorth west India (Haryana andPunjab) touched a new peakvalue of this year (3178) onThursday,” it said.

However, Delhittes candraw solace from the fact thatthe westerly wind direction islikely to bring some breather.

“The western disturbanceis likely to positively influenceDelhi’s air quality by increasingsurface and boundary layerwinds speed and thereby flush-ing out the accumulated pol-lutants. By November 3, sig-nificant improvement is likelyand further by November 4.”

According to US Embassyat New Delhi database, on anaverage, concentration of pol-lutants in Vasundhara, AnandVihar, Sectors 62, 125 of Noidaand Okhla recorded severeplus AQI category.

According to CentralPollution Control Board, AQIin Palwal was 369, Panipat421, Rohtak 467, Sirsa 462.

The health bulletin rec-ommended people to avoidphysical activities outdoors.“Stop any activity level if youexperience any unusual cough-ing, chest discomfort, wheez-ing, breathing difficulty, orfatigue, and consult doctor.

“If the room has windows,close them. If the air condi-tioner provides a fresh airintake option, close it. Avoidburning anything, such aswood, candles or even incense.Keep the room clean — do notvacuum. Do wet mopping fre-quently. Masks known as N-95or P-100 respirators may help if you go out. Do not relyon dust masks for protection,”it said.

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The Election Commission(EC) on Friday announced

a five-phase Assembly electionschedule in Jharkhand betweenNovember 30 and December20, with the counting to be heldon December 23.

Chief ElectionCommissioner (CEC) SunilArora said the polls will be heldin the Naxalism-affected Stateon November 30, December 7,12, 16 and 20. As many as 19districts are sensitive and 13worst-affected by Left-wingextremism in the State. Theterm of the JharkhandAssembly ends on January 5next year.

The elections to the 81-seatJharkhand Assembly would testthe popularity of Chief MinisterRaghubhar Das and the BJP,which would be pitted againstthe Opposition grand alliancespearheaded by JharkhandMukti Morcha (JMM) thathopes to give a tough fight toDas who is claiming to repeatBJP’s win in the polls with a“record 65 seats”.

Das is the first non-tribalto become Jharkhand’s ChiefMinister. Tribals, though, makethe single-biggest chunk ofvoters in the State with around26 per cent total population, asper the 2011 census.

As in the case ofMaharashtra and Haryana,where prior to elections sever-al Opposition MPs and MLAscrossed over to the BJP creat-ing a buzz for the party,Jharkhand also witnessed thesaffron party roping in sixOpposition MLAs — two eachfrom the Congress and theJMM, one from JharkhandVikas Morcha-Prajatantrik(JVM-P) and one indepen-dent — in October.

The JMM-headedOpposition is pinning its hopeson the anti-incumbency factorsworking at the local level alongwith price-rise and unemploy-ment giving it a leg-up in thepoll. The BJP-led NDA in 2014

collected 43 seats and jacked itup further by pulling in 6 JVP(P) MLAs in 2015 to sit prettywith a dominant majority.

State Congress presidentRameshwar Oraon claimeddefections will not have anyimpact and the BJP will becrushed in Jharkhand. “Theygot much less than what theywere expecting in Haryanaand Maharashtra. The half-done exercise — to oust themfrom power — will now becompleted in Jharkhand,”Oraon said.

“We will soon announcethe formation of grand alliancecomprising at least four polit-ical parties, JMM, Congress,JVM (P) and the RJD,” saidJMM general secretary SupriyoBhattacharya, adding, “We areworking to finalise the seat-sharing formula.”

Bhattacharya claimedJMM’s working president andthe Leader of the Opposition,Hemant Soren, will be thechief ministerial face of thegrand alliance.”

The BJP, which currentlyrules the State in an alliancewith the All JharkhandStudents’ Union (AJSU), hopesfor better results than it record-ed in Maharashtra andHaryana where results werebelow par its expectations.

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The political posturingbetween the saffron alliance

partners over the sharing ofpower in Maharashtra contin-ued on Friday, as Shiv Senaspokesperson Sanjay Raut saidthat if it so desired his partycould form its Governmentand senior SudhirMungantiwar handed outveiled threat to its ally that theState would come under thePresident’s Rule if theGovernment was formedbefore November 7.

On a day when the StateCongress leaders met AICCpresident Sonia Gandhi in NewDelhi to seek permission fromthe Congress high command to

explore the possibility of extend-ing support to the Shiv Sena-ledGovernment in Maharashtra,the Sena and BJP leadersindulged in bitter battle ofnerves for the eight consecutiveday after the saffron alliancepartners collectively managed toretain power in the State.

Raut, who had met NCPchief Sharad Pawar onThursday in an apparent bid tofish in troubled waters, uppedthe ante on Friday. Talking tomediapersons, Raut said: “If theBJP fails to implement theagreement (on the power shar-

ing) reached with us ahead ofthe Lok Sabha polls, we haveother options open. The man-date has not been given to anyone party but has been given toboth the BJP and Shiv Sena...Ifthe Shiv Sena makes up itsmind, it can form aGovernment in the State. Andthe Chief Minister will be fromthe Shiv Sena, a nomineedecided by Sena presidentUddhav Thackeray”.

Not to be outdone by theShiv Sena, senior BJP leaderand Finance Minister in theoutgoing Government Sudhir

Mungantiwar mounted pres-sure on his party’s younger allyto agree post haste to form aGovernment in alliance withhis party, by saying: “If theGovernment is not formedbefore November 7, thenMaharashtra will come underthe President’s Rule.”

While agreeing that therehas been some delay in the startof negotiations between the twoparties due to the Diwali festi-val and some reasons,Mungantiwar expressed hopethat talks would begin in thetwo days. People ofMaharashtra have given man-date not to any party but to theMahayuti (alliance compris-ing BJP, Shiv Sena and otherparties)” ...Our alliance isstronger than Fevicol orAmbuja Cement”.

Expressing hope that thenew Government wouldassume office soon,Mungnatiwar handed outcovert but polite warning to theShiv Sena, by saying: “A newGovernment will have to be in

place within the stipulatedtime, or else the President willhave to intervene.... ThePresident’s Rule will beimposed if the Governmentformation doesn’t happen inthe given time”.

Mungantiwar indirectlypointed out that the BJP was inno position to give ChiefMinister’s post on a rotationalbasis to the Shiv Sena.Mungantiwar said, “We havealready named DevendraFadnavis for the post”.

Mungnatiwar said that theBJP would take a lead in theformation of Government inthe State. “We will first sitacross and break the deadlockat the State-level. If necessary,the Central BJP leadership willintervene and resolve the issuesbetween the two parties”.

The BJP’s keenness to formthe Government at the earliestshould be seen in the light offact that the party has bookedthe Wankhede Stadium insouth Mumbai for swearing-inceremony on November 5.

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Contrary to Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal’s asser-

tions that stubble burning inDelhi’s neighbouring Statescontributes to the Capital’sdeadly pollution, the Centrehas told the Supreme Court inan affidavit that crop stubbleburning has declined nearly 41per cent between 2016 and2018 in Punjab, Haryana andUttar Pradesh.

According to the affidavitfiled by the UnionEnvironment Ministry in theSupreme Court, Punjabremained at the bottom ofDelhi’s adjoining States inreducing its share of the toxic haze.

For his part, UnionEnvironment Minister PrakashJavadekar on Friday at anevent slammed Kejriwal for“politicising” the issue of airpollution and indulging in ablamegame as the air quality in Delhi-NCR deteri-orated further.

In its affidavit filed on thedirection of the top court on

October 22, the CentralGovernment had admittedthat stubble burning is a chiefcause of bad air in Delhi-NCR in the months of Octoberand November. TheGovernment added that it istaking all possible measures,including additional budgetaryallocation to the States ofPunjab, Haryana and UttarPradesh, to reduce the menace.

The Ministry cited aGovernment-mandated studyconducted using satelliteremote sensing to lay downstatistics regarding reductionin the crop stubble burning. Itsaid there has been a reductionof about 15 per cent and 41 percent in the number of burningevents in 2018 as compared to2017 and 2016, respectively.

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There has been a significantdrop in the number of

migratory birds that normallyvisit in the Yamuna BiodiversityPark (YBP) in the nationalCapital during this time. Thisyear, only 22 birds arrived inthe YBP, which is quite low ascompared to the last five years,especially during September -October period.

Ornithologists in Delhisaid low presence of birds inwetland and sanctuaries can beattributed to climate change buttheir route also plays pivotalrole in marking their presencein Delhi-NCR.

“Yes… bird sighting is lowthis year in October. There areseveral factors affecting. First isthe local climate of Europe,Siberia and Central Asia. Thisyear, there is a change in tem-

perature there,” said Dr FaiyazKhudsar. Inadequate vegetationin wetland is also a factor inlowering the number of winged guests, the birdwatchers said.

“Birds come here to enjoyclimate. They gain weight andyounger birds come first, thereare several indicators in andaround wetland area, phrag-mites, a type of grass, is one,”Dr Khudsar explained.

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New Delhi: As air pollutionreached alarming levels, hospi-tals reported a surge in thenumber of patients. “Patientsare coming with complaints ofwatery eyes, cough, breathingdifficulty, exacerbation of asth-ma and chronic obstructivepulmonary diseases (COPD),”said AIIMS Director RandeepGuleria. SR

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Three-day-long Rajyotsavafunction got off to a glit-

tering start on Friday evening after it was inaugurat-ed by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

It was the 20th foundationday of the State and distin-guished guests across the Stategraced the inaugural functionheld at local science collegeground here.

Host of Ministers inBhupesh Baghel Cabinet werepresent on the occasion, wholater inspected the stalls ofvarious Government depart-ments which are showcasingtheir innovations.

Culture Minister AmarjeetBhagat who is hosting theevent, welcomed the ChiefMinister with traditional head-dress of ‘Madia’ tribes and alsowith traditional ‘Khumri’ hat.

A strong local touch wasthere in this year’s foundationday function as cultural programmes of only folk-groups were included in itinstead of performances fromartistes of Bollywood andChhollywood.

The centre of attraction onFriday was the performance offolksongs and dances, includ-ing of Surguja band and theperformance of Pandwani.

Among the stalls ofGovernment departments, theAgriculture Departments’ stallbased on State Government’sf lagship scheme Narva Garva Ghurva Badi (NGGB)catches the eyeballs due to itsunique display of efforts beingmade for strengthening ruraleconomy.

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Page 2: ˝ ˇ ˛˚ ˚˜ ˜ ˚˜ ˇ$ · As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, ... the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai for swearing-in ceremony on November 5. ˘˘ ... Government-mandated

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India and Germany on Fridaydecided to intensify bilater-

al and multilateral co-operationto fight terrorism and extrem-ism after wide-ranging talksbetween visiting GermanChancellor Angela Merkel andPrime Minister Narendra Modihere.

He also said the two coun-tries vowed to build New Indiaby 2022 and expertise of tech-nological, economic power-houses like Germany will beuseful for it. The Chancellor ishere on a two-day visit.

After the two leaders co-chaired the fifth I n t e r - G o v e r n m e n t a lConsultations(IGC), the twocountries signed five joint dec-larations of intent and inked 11pacts in fields such as space,civil aviation, maritime tech-nology, medicine and educa-tion.

Reiterating the commit-ment to fight the scourge of ter-rorism, Modi said after themeeting “we have resolved tointensify bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation to deal withterrorism and extremism.” Healso said India and Germanywill continue cooperation toexpedite reforms in UnitedNations SecurityCouncil(UNSC).

The two leaders also calledon nations to ensure that theirterritory is not used for terroractivities against other coun-tries, in a veiled message toPakistan. However, the situa-tion in Kashmir did not comeduring discussions betweenModi and Merkel, sources said.

The Modi-Merkel meetingcomes amidst concernsexpressed by some foreign law-makers, including from theUS, over restrictions imposedby the Government post abro-gation of Article 370 to with-draw Jammu & Kashmir’s spe-cial status in August.

A joint statement, issuedafter Modi and Merkel talks,emphasised on strengtheningcounter-terrorism cooperationand called for a stronger inter-national partnership in com-bating the “global scourge”.

Underlining the need forall countries to ensure that theirterritory is not used for terroractivities against other coun-tries, the two leaders stressedthe importance of the com-bined effort of all countries tofight global terrorism.

As regards propelling Indiaon the path of growth anddevelopment, the PrimeMinister said in his press state-ment the two countries “havevowed to build ‘new India’ by2022 and expertise of techno-

logical, economic powerhous-es like Germany will be usefulfor it.”

Moreover, in an effort tofast forward the concept ofbuilding modern cities andaddress the issue of preservingenvironment, Modi also said“We have decided to tap coop-eration possibilities in e-mobil-ity, smart cities, cleaning ofrivers and environmental pro-tection.”

Expressing concern overthe inadequate global level ofclimate action currently, theleaders called on all countriesto step up their efforts.“Germany and India stress theneed to undertake climateactions based on the principlesof equity, and common but differentiated responsibilitiesand respective capabilities, inthe light of different nationalcircumstances and agree to

work towards further develop-ing their respective NDCs asagreed in Paris,” the statementsaid.

With the present rulingNDA dispensation determinedto make India a leading nationin manufacturing frontlineweapon systems thereby givinga massive boost to the localindustry, Modi said India hasinvited Germany to take advan-tage of opportunities in defence

production in the defence cor-ridors in Uttar Pradesh andTamil Nadu.

Merkel said agreementssigned between Germany andIndia prove that ties are march-ing ahead in the areas of new and advancedtechnology. Areas of 5G andartificial intelligence are a chal-lenge and it is important towork on them together, shesaid.

Giving details of the agree-ments, the external affairs min-istry later said 17 pacts weresigned in the fields of agricul-ture, maritime technology,ayurveda and yoga among oth-ers. Five joint declarations ofintent were also exchanged

between India and Germany,the Ministry said in a state-ment. The joint declarations ofintent included cooperationon strategic projects, partner-ship for green urban mobility,research and development onartificial intelligence and coop-eration in the field of prevention of marine litter, itsaid.

Agreements were alsosigned to promote, establishand expand scientific and tech-nological research coopera-tion, academic collaboration inayurveda, yoga and meditation,the statement said. AMemorandum ofUnderstanding(MoU) wassigned in the field of occupa-tional diseases, rehabilitationand vocational training ofinsured persons and workerswith disabilities, it said.

Another pact was signed forcooperation in inland, coastaland maritime technology, itadded.

Other agreements signedbetween the two countriesinclude collaboration in agri-cultural technical and profes-sional training, cooperationbetween the National Museum,the National Gallery of ModernArt, the IndianMuseum,Kolkata, the PrussianCultural Heritage Foundationand the Stiftung HumboldtForum in Berliner Schloss andbetween All India FootballFederation (AIFF) andDeutscher Fußball-Bund e.V(DFB), the statement said.

The former world champi-ons in football, Germany islikely to send highly trainedcoaches to India to train bud-ding talent.

New Delhi: German Chancellor Angela Merkel braved the toxicair in Delhi on Friday as she went about her outdoor engage-ments without wearing a mask, when several people in thenational Capital were seen taking preventive measures againstinhaling the polluted air.

Merkel (65) remained seated when the national anthemsof India and Germany were played during her ceremonial recep-tion at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, after she was granted exemp-tion due to her medical condition. PTI

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Reacting for the first timesince abrogation of Article

370 on August 5, the interna-tional terror group Al Qaeda inIndian Subcontinent has calledfor a jehad not only in Jammu& Kashmir but all over India.It also called for targetting theArmy and the “polytheist”rulers of India (Hindu leadersand politicians), within andoutside the country.

The assertions of AQIS, anaffiliate of Al Qaeda, havecome at a time when two of itsimportant leaders includingits chief Maulana Asim Umaralias Sanaul Haq and its Jammu& Kashmir unit chief ZakirMusa have been killed recent-ly.

Musa’s successor HamidLelhari, who took over as chiefof Al Qaeda Kashmir (also

known as Ansar GhazwatulHind), was also liquidated bythe security forces in the Valley.The outfit’s emphasis is alsoaimed at gaining significanceand traction in the region as theISIS emerged as a more potentterror group by executing theserial suicide bombings inColombo earlier this yearkilling over 250 persons,according to counter-terrorismexperts.

The terror outfit has alsoexhorted the Ummah (Muslimcommunity) to strengthenjehad in the Valley and the hin-terland with their lives andwealth to help the “oppressed”Kashmiris.

“It is an obligation to helpour oppressedbrothers….rights cannot beacquired from the usurper byasking for them in charity.Peaceful struggle against the

oppressor can never bring anend to his oppression…If any-thing can put a stop to injusticeand tyranny, rebellion andoppression, then it is the swordof Haq (rectitude),” UstadhUsama Mahmood, an AQISleader, said.

“Today, the reason for thisoppression and tyranny is thatthe polytheist Hindus consid-er our brothers (Muslims)completely on their own and

defence-less. Indiais certainthat nei-ther willt h eweaponsa n dresourcesof theM u s l i mU m m a hcome to

the aid of the KashmiriMuslims nor will any jehadimovement ever be able to setfoot in Kashmir,” he said in thelatest online commentary titled“Kashmir…The Lion ShallWise Up Now.” The commen-tary was released on the onlinechannel of the outfit As SahabMedia.

He further said, “I requestall those who believe, to aid andassist with your lives and

wealth, this blessed jihadimovement rising in Kashmir.As a reminder, I would also addthat do not consider the battlefront against India to be limit-ed to Kashmir, wherever youfind the Indian Army and thepolytheist rulers of India, with-in India and without, strikethem,” he said.

Outlining the outfit’s terroragenda in the Indian subcon-tinent, he further said, “This isthe beginning of the movementwhich will put to the sword allthe standard-bearers of injus-tice and infidelity fromKhurasan (Afghanistan) tillChittagong (Bangladesh, andfrom Sindh to Hind (India).Today it (Al Qaeda) isencamped in the fields anddeserts of Khurasan, then itssecond camp is Kashmir andDelhi and finally it would be inJerusalem…”

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Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra on

Friday said if the BJP or theGovernment engaged Israeliagencies to snoop into thephones of journalists, lawyers,activists and politicians, it is a“scandal” with grave ramifica-tions for national security.

Priyanka’s remarks comeafter WhatsApp said thatIndian scribes and humanrights activists were amongthose globally spied upon byunnamed entities using Israelispyware Pegasus.

“If the BJP or theGovernment has engagedIsraeli agencies to snoop intothe phones of journalists,lawyers, activists and politi-cians, it is a gross violation ofhuman rights and a scandalwith grave ramifications onnational security,” Priyanka

said in a tweet. Priyanka saidshe was waiting for the gov-ernment’s response.

The Congress on Thursdayattacked the Modi governmentover the issue, alleging that ithad been “caught snooping”.The opposition party demand-ed a Supreme Court-moni-tored probe into the “illegalhacking” of cell phones. Amidthe controversy, Government

asked the Facebook-ownedmessaging service to explainthe breach and list out mea-sures that have been taken tosafeguard privacy of millions ofIndians.

IT Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad said that theGovernment is committed toprotecting the privacy of Indiancitizens.

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The Ministry of Housingand Affairs (MoHUA) has

sanctioned more than 93 Lakhhouses against the demand of1.12 crore houses under PrimeMinister Awas Yojna (Urban).As per data furnished by theMinistry, as many as 55 Lakhhouses are grounded for con-struction of which constructionof more than 28 lakh houses iscomplete.

The Ministry has approved371 proposals for the con-struction of 2.31 lakh morehomes with an overall invest-ment of �7,322 crore involvingcentral assistance of �3,473crore taking the total numberof homes sanctioned underthe scheme to 93.1 lakh. Thesehouses will be constructed inAndhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland,Puducherry and Uttar Pradesh.

The number of housesapproved under the PMAY

(Urban) are Andhra Pradesh-1,24,624 houses, Assam-16,002houses,Bihar-15,049 houses,Madhya Pradesh-18,362 hous-es,Nagaland-3,238 houses,Puduchery-1,811 houses andUttar Pradesh-52,446 houses.

Secretary, MoHUA, DurgaShanker Mishra said that theinvestment in sanctioned hous-es is �5.56 lakh crore whichincludes �2.82 lakh crore as

Public Sector investment while�2.74 lakh crore from the pri-vate sector. “Out of �Lakhcrore of central assistanceapproved, �57,896 crore hasbeen released to the States/UTsso far,” Mishra added. Officialssaid that Andhra Pradesh andUttar Pradesh have achievednearly 100 percent of theirurban housing demand of13.78 Lakh and 15 Lakh hous-

es respectively.PMAY (Urban) has four

components - ‘Credit LinkedSubsidy Scheme’ (CLSS), in situSlum Redevelopment (ISSR),Affordable Housing inPartnership (AHP) andBeneficiary Led Construction(BLC) under which Ministryprovides central assistance tobeneficiaries to construct theirown houses. Under CLSS, theCentre provides interest sub-sidy of up to around � 2.67 lakhon home loans to individuals,which reduces the principaloutstanding amount of theloan. The Government has sofar released 18,458 crore cred-it linked subsidy to around 7.18lakh beneficiaries.

“By March 2020, all the1.12 crore houses will be sanc-tioned and 75 lakh houses willbe grounded. 50 houses will becompleted and 40-45 lakhhouses occupied by beneficia-ries in next five to six months,”officials said.

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Seeking legitimisation of thedesertion of over 300 uni-

formed personnel post-Operation Blue Star, ShiromaniAkali Dal president SukhbirSingh Badal on Friday urgedPrime Minister Narendra Modito acquit the Sikhs who haddeserted the Army of all thecharges and treat them as ex-servicemen by restoring allbenefits to them.

In a letter to Modi, Badalalso lamented that justice con-tinued to elude the victims ofanti-Sikh riots of 1984.

“I am writing to you tobring to your notice the saga ofappalling injustice to the Sikhcommunity.... The guilty arestill at large and victim familiesare wailing for justice. Justicestill remains a far cry,” Badal

said in his letter. The Army had conducted

the Operation Blue Star toflush out militants from theGolden Temple in 1984.

After the military opera-tion, 309 Sikh soldiers lefttheir barrack in a state of shockand later they were court-mar-tialled for deserting the Armyand punished, Badal claimed.

“The Government of Indiais celebrating 550th ParkashPurab of Sri Guru Nanak Devjiand I appeal to you that these

soldiers had left the Army inthe state of shock and thecrime committed by the thenruling party is graver andunpardonable.

“I, therefore, appeal that onthe occasion of 550th ParkashPurab, the Government ofIndia should acquit them of allcharges and treat them as ex-servicemen and restore all ex-servicemen benefits to them,”he said.

Badal had on Thursdayevening met Union HomeMinister Amit Shah and raisedhis concerns regarding Pakistancharging fees from pilgrims vis-iting the Kartarpur SahibGurdwara.

In 1984, scores of soldiersof Sikh Regiment in Ramgarh(Jharkhand) had revoltedagainst the army and even shotdead the Commanding Officer.

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The Union Health Ministryhas constituted 5-member

search panel to recommendnames for the newly establishedNational Medical Commission(NMC) which is going toreplace the Medical Council ofIndia.

The Ministry recentlyissued a notification in thisregard. Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi,Oncologist from TataMemorial Hospital, Dr RenuSwarup, Secretary, Departmentof Biotechnology (DBT) in theUnion Science and TechnologyMinistry, Ajay KumarKhanna, elected member of the

Uttarakhand Medical Council,Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, gas-troenterologist, Asian Instituteof Gastroenterology,Hyderabad, Telangana havebeen nominated for the searchpanel.

Cabinet Secretary will bethe chairperson and UnionHealth Secretary will be theconvenor of thepanel.

The search panel will sug-gest the names for the chair-person and the members of theNMC which has been set upafter the passage of a Bill in theParliament a few months ago.The NMC will be 33 membersbody.

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The ‘City of Joy’ Kolkatawill be celebrating science

festival from November 5.Around 12,000 eminent scien-tists, innovators and those withscientific tempers besidesGovernment officials from thecountry and abroad will con-gregate at the IndiaInternational Science Fest(IISF)2019 at West Bengal’scapital.

To be inaugurated byPresident Ram Nath Kovind,the theme for this year’s festi-val is ‘Research, Innovation,and Science Empowering theNation (‘RISEN- India) .

In a press conference hererecently, Union Minister ofScience and Technology andEarth Sciences, Dr HarshVardhan said that the 5th edi-tion of IISF is a festival to cel-ebrate the achievements ofIndian science. Our

Government is keen that sci-ence is used to solve the vari-ous problems facing the peoplesuch as health and in this con-text wanted to promote scien-tific temper particularly amongthe younger generation,” he hadsaid.

The IISF will host morethan 28 events, including‘Young Scientists’ Conference’,

Students Science Village,North-East Students Conclave,Agricultural Scientists’ Meet,Assistive TechnologiesConclave & Expo forDivyangjan, VIGYANIKA -International Science LiteratureFestival and InternationalScience Film Festival of India(ISFFI).

Maan Bardhan Kanth from

Vigyan Prasar, DSTunder the Ministry, saidthat those in search ofunderstanding the waysto instill science spirit ordevelop creative andcompassionate mind,there are events cus-tomized as per theirinterest — like YoungScientists’ Conference(YSC), Students ScienceVillage (SSV) andWomen Scientists’ andE n t r e p r e n e u r s ’Conclave in which largenumber of youth will be

busy in finding innovativesolutions to the diverse chal-lenges that our society facestoday.

“Women Scientists’ andEntrepreneurs’ Conclave is astep forward to inspire youngwomen to set their career inscience or technology and pro-mote the understanding ofmodern technology among

common public, through exhi-bitions, presentations, discus-sions and social events,”explained Kanth.

Another interesting firstof its kind event will beVIGYANIKA, especially forthose in love with science lit-erature.

The major attractions ofthis science lit fest will beVigyan Manthan (panel dis-cussions), Vigyan Spandan(scientific paper presentations,science writing workshops, sci-entoon & debate competition,storytelling), vigyan manchan(vigyan kavi sammelan, sciencedrama, folk art), and vigyanprakashan involving book fair,book release and meet theauthor activities.

The festival is organisedjointly by Science andTechnology-related Ministriesand Departments of theGovernment of India andVijnana Bharati.

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Page 3: ˝ ˇ ˛˚ ˚˜ ˜ ˚˜ ˇ$ · As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, ... the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai for swearing-in ceremony on November 5. ˘˘ ... Government-mandated

RAIPUR | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 2, 2019chhattisgarh 03

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and his cabinet colleagues dedicating to the public state’s new Industrial Policy (2019-24)at Rajyotsava function venue on Friday evening. Pioneer Photo

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh governmentwill procure paddy at

`2,500 per quintal regardlessof centre’s support, statedsenior minister AmarjeetBhagat while briefing mediaabout the decisions of Friday’sCabinet meeting at ChiefMinister’s official residence.

“Considering the extendedstretch of rain this year, wehave decided to start paddyprocurement from December1. The process will end onFebruary 15,” said Bhagat, whoholds the portfolio of Foodcivil supplies and consumerprotection department.

Agriculture MinisterRavindra Chaubey and ForestMinister Mohammed Akbarwere also present at the mediabriefing.

They informed that theCabinet, chaired by ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel also

approved amendment in the100-point model reservationroster fixed for direct recruit-

ment at division and districtlevel under Schedule-2 inRule-3 of Chhattisgarh Civil

Service (Reservation forScheduled Caste, ScheduledTribe and Other Backward

Classes) Rule, 1998. Theamendment in reservationquota will be carried out on

the basis of population of SC,ST, OBC and EconomicallyWeaker Sections (EWS) inrespective districts.

The ministers furtherinformed that the state gov-ernment is repeatedly appeal-ing to central governmentthrough the Prime Ministerand Union Food Minister forallowing the surplus rice afterdistribution in PDS, to bevalidated for central pool byrelaxing a condition in theMoU as was done duringprevious years, wherein, theChhattisgarh governmentused to transfer surplus rice tocentral pool through FoodCorporation of India.

The trio informed that thestate government has set atarget to procure over 85 MLTpaddy during this KharifMarketing Year 2019-20 and itintends to provide surplus ricefor NFSA through the FCI.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

In a big amendment in theprovisions of reservations in the

district cadre, state government hasdecided that the reservation will nowbe based on population of therespective district.

A decision regarding the samewas taken at a cabinet meeting held atofficial residence of Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel on Friday afternoon.

Briefing news persons about thecabinet decisions, ministers RavindraChoubey, Mohammad Akbar andAmarjeet Bhagat informed that with

hike in reservations for OBC’s to 27%and introduction of reservationsfor Economically Weaker Sections(EWS) the total percentage was goingbeyond 100% in some of the districtsin the state.

Keeping in view the problemarising over the same, the stategovernment decided to make stag-nant the reservations for ScheduledTribe and Scheduled Caste and toprovide reservations for OBCs andEWS as per their population inrespective districts, including Bijapur,Narayanpur, Dantewada, Choubeyinformed.

District cadre reservationsnow on basis of population

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

For the first time inChhattisgarh, the family

members of jawans and policepersonnel who laid downtheir lives on Naxal front wereremembered and honored onstate foundation day.

“The family membersof the ‘Shaheed’ werehonored on behalf of ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelon the occasion of the statefoundation day,” Sundarraj

P DIG (Naxal Ops)informed.

He said that around 900families have receivedfelicitation on ChiefMinister’s behalf.

Notably, Chhattisgarhhas been one of the worstMaoist violence hit states ofIndia. According to a reportrecently released by UnionHome Ministry in 2018Chhattisgarh witnessed 392Naxal-related violentincidents resulting in 153casualties.

Family members ofmartyrs honored onstate foundation day

Paddy to be procured at `2,500per quintal, Cabinet reiterates

“Consideringthe extendedstretch of rainthis year, wehave decidedto start paddyprocurementfrom December1. The processwill end onFebruary 15”

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel has underlined

the need to make Suraji Gaonscheme a pubic movement inthe state.

He was on Fridayaddressing the volunteerswho were being impartedtrainings for better manage-ment of cowsheds across allthe 27 districts of the state.

He also felicitated thevolunteers and lauded theirefforts and contribution instrengthening the rural econ-omy. The training for bettermanagement of cowsheds isbeing undertaken by themunder guidance of planning

commission of the state.Speaking to the

volunteers at a function heldat his official residence on thefoundation day of the state,Baghel appreciated thetraining programme of themand stressed on the need forcontribution of all to makeSuraji Gaon a publicmovement.

The volunteers apprisedthe Chief Minister about theformation of Gauthan com-mittees and Suraji Gaoncommittees at the districtlevel and their functioning aswell as their responsibilities.

Minister for Agricultureand Water ResourcesRavindra Choubey was alsopresent on the occasion.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel recalled that

Chhattisgarh was dreamtby ancestors long beforethe state came into exis-tence in 2000. “Its history isnot that of mere 19 years”,he said.

Baghel was speaking atthe inaugural function ofRajyotsava, held at localscience college on Fridayevening. He rememberedthe ancestors who dreamtfor a separate state and saidtheir dream was fulfilled 19years ago.

He further said thatstate populace by giving animpressive mandate to

them have shown theirtrust on Congress govern-

ment and claimed that theyhad done their level best to

fulfill their aspirations inpast 10 months. “The

people have appreciatedour efforts and the increasein legislative seats’ tally is atestimony for the same”, headded.

Citing Narva GarvaGhurva Badi (NGGB),Baghel reiterated hisgovernment’s commitmentfor strengthening ruraleconomy in the state. Thefarm loan waiver anddeclaration of `2500Minimum Support Pricehad encouraged ruralites togo for farming and this willcertainly boost the ruraleconomy, he claimed.

He also backed thestate government’s patron-age to regional festivals andclaimed that it will lead torevival of rich cultural

heritage of the state. Earlier, Chief Minister

read out a message fromCongress president SoniaGandhi in which sheclaimed that now the paceof development will beaccelerated as the Congressgovernment had come topower after a long gap of 15years.

Sonia also appreciatedthe Congress governmentin the state for marinatingpeace and harmony. “At atime when most of thestates are engulfed incommunal hatred under‘saffron terror’ theChhattisgarh is focusing ondevelopment”, she claimed.

C’garh not has a history of mere 19 years: BaghelCabinet decision

‘Suraji Gaon’ has to be madepublic movement: Baghel

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel on Friday appreci-

ated the stalls erected atRajyotsava venue and laudedthe women self-help-groupsfor their active participation.

The Chief Minister, whoaccompanied by his cabinetcolleagues, visited the stallsalso praised the various itemsput on display by the artisans.

The three-day longRajyotsav -state foundationday- has been organised inGovernment Science Collegeground Raipur. Stalls of 13government departmentdisplaying various activities ofthe respective departmenthave been erected at the venue.

According to official

information, a ‘Shilp Gram’ setup at the venue where 36 stallshave been provided to the arti-sans, who are creating variousitems on-the-spot there for sale.The business pavilion features52 stalls related to differentbusiness running in the state.Separate stalls of public sectorunits like NTPC, JSPL, BALCO,

NMDC, BSP and CSIDC havealso been displayed.

The 26 stalls at food courtfeaturing differentChhattisgarhi delicacies areturning out to be the biggestcrowd pullers where a largenumber of people are savoringdifferent food items, while sat-isfying their appetite.

CM appreciates stallserected at ‘Rajyotsava’

STAFF REPORTER nBILASPUR

To commemorate the144th birth anniversary

of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patelas "National Unity Day", amini marathon "Run forUnity" was organised in themorning hour of Thursday

at Sipat Super ThermalPower Station of the NTPCLtd.

Anil Kumar Choudhary,General Manager (Operation

and Maintenance) flagged offthe race in the presence ofother general managers andsenior officials. Largenumbers of employees andassociates participated in thismarathon to show theirsolidarity to SardarVallabhbhai Patel, said anNTPC press release.

The successful participantsof marathon awarded withindividual medal andmemento. In the afternoon,march past demonstrated bythe CISF personnel. AnilKumar Choudhary addressedthe employees and CISFpersonnel on importance ofnational unity and integrity onthe occasion.

Run for Unity organisedon National Unity Day

Page 4: ˝ ˇ ˛˚ ˚˜ ˜ ˚˜ ˇ$ · As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, ... the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai for swearing-in ceremony on November 5. ˘˘ ... Government-mandated

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The opposit ion‘Mahagathbandhan’ has

finalized its seat-sharing for-mula for 81 Assembly seats inJharkhand, half of which willbe fought by Jharkhand MuktiMorcha (JMM) and around25 to 28 seats by Congress.

Unlike this year’s generalelections, theMahagathbandhan (grandall iance) wil l be minusBabulal Marandi’s JharkhandVikas Morcha (JVM) withinclusion of new entrant Leftparties in the alliance.

On Thursday eveningf inal shape toMahagathbandhan was givenafter a Congress delegationheaded by State Congress in-charge RPN Singh and StateCongress presidentRameshwar Oroan drove atJMM executive presidentHemant Soren’s residence.Congress legislature partyleader and seniorCongressman Alamgir Alam

too was part of the delegation.Sources said that the

JMM and Congress haveagreed to contest majority ofseats leaving ten seats forRJD and Left parties.

As per alliance formula,JMM is going to contest 40 to43 seats, while Congress willcontest 25 to 28 seats. RJDand Left parties -- CPI (M),MCC and CPI (ML) -- will getfive seats each.

Congress in-charge RPNSingh said, “Talks on allianceis going on and the number ofseats each parties will contestwill be declared soon. Ourmain aim is to removeRaghubar Das Governmentfrom State.”

However, the biggest sur-prise in theMahagathbandhan alliance isthat JVM(P) the party head-ed by former Chief MinisterBabulal Marandi will be keptaway from the alliance.

Sources said that JVM(P)has been kept away fromalliance due to JVM(P) chief

Babulal Marandi beingadamant with his demand ofnot accepting JMM chiefHemant Soren to lead thealliance.

Marandi had already stat-ed that he will not accept theleadership of Soren to lead thealliance. Moreover, JVM (P)had demanded 20 to 22 seatsin the alliance, while both theJMM and Congress wereready to give ten to twelveseats to JVM (P).

Sources said that i fJVM(P) is shown the doorfrom Mahagathbandhan thenthe party will be left with noother alternative but to go topolls alone. Sources said thatthough JMM is not interested to keep JVM(P) inthe alliance, a faction ofCongress doesn’t want to oustJVM-P from the alliance asthey fear that it will lead tosplit of secular votes.

In last Lok Sabha electiontoo Mahagathbandhan part-ners fought against NDA

alliance but the results wasdifferent.

Out of fourteen seats, thegrand alliance won only twoseats with Congress candidateGeeta Koda winning theSinghbhum seat while fromRajmahal JMM’s VijayHansdak winning the seats.

The two other con-stituents of grand allianceRJD and JVM(P) failed toopen their account.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) on Friday welcomed

the decision of ElectionCommission of India forholding the AssemblyElections in five phases inJharkhand.

Addressing a press meetBJP Jharkhand GeneralSecretary Deepak Prakashsaid that this is a very goodeffort taken by the ECI andBJP is welcoming the decisionfor conducting the AssemblyElections in five phases.

Prakash further said thatthe elections will be fair andpeaceful with this decision.“The 2014 elections were alsoheld in five phases. Accordingto public sentiments, BJP haddemanded election from theECI to conduct elections infive phases.

The law and order situa-

tion is better in the State todayand Naxalism activity has beencome down,” he added.

“BJP has given a stable,strong, sensitive and impecca-ble Government under theleadership of Raghubar Das for5 years. People’s trust hasincreased on the Government.The double engineGovernment has set newrecords of development, sothat it is sure that the people ofthe State will vote again to theparty to form the NDAGovernment under the lead-ership of Raghubar Das,” saidPrakash.He said that the partywill achieve the target of 65plus seats. Prakash appealedto voters to participate invoting with family and friendsto strengthen democracy.

The party SpokespersonPratul Shahdeo and media in-charge Shivpujan Pathak werealso present at the press con-

ference. Meanwhile,Jharkhand Pradesh CongressCommittee presidentRameshwar Oraon also wel-comed the Decision of ECI tohold the State AssemblyElections in five phases andsaid that the party is com-pletely ready to contest theelections successfully.

Oraon said that the partyhad demanded to the ECI thatthe Assembly Election shouldbe conducted in one phase.“Announcement of elections infive phases exhibited that theECI ignored the claim of theGovernment that law andorder situation is in bettercondition and Naxalism hasbeen wiped out,” he added.

JPCC president said thatthe people of the State wereeagerly waiting for the daybecause they have been badlyannoyed with false promisesof Raghubar Government.

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To exclude the ChiefMinister’s newly-appointed

political and planning advisorsfrom the ‘office of profit’ as perthe provision of the PunjabState Legislature (Prevention ofDisqualification) Act-1952,Punjab Government has decid-ed to table an amendment tothe said legislation during theone-day Punjab Vidhan Sabhasession on November 6.

Even as the Governmenthas decided to convene a one-day special session to com-memorate the 550th birthanniversary of Sikhism founderGurur Nanak Dev, it is earlierbelieved that no legislativebusiness would be conductedduring the House proceed-ings.

The decision to amend the1952 Act was taken by theCouncil of Ministers in itsmeeting on Friday to add theAdvisors to the Chief Ministerfor planning and political mat-ters to the office of profit for thepurpose of exclusion from dis-qualification.

The Bill amending Section2 of the Act will be presentedin the forthcoming session ofPunjab Vidhan Sabha, said thegovernment spokesperson.

Notably, the State Cabinethad earlier decided to bring anOrdinance to exclude the

Advisor (Political) to ChiefMinister and Advisor(Planning) to Chief Ministerfrom the ambit of ‘The PunjabState Legislature (Prevention ofDisqualification) Act, 1952’,which failed reach theGovernor’s office and bound tobe lapse with the commence-ment of the Vidhan Sabha ses-sion.

Government official toldThe Pioneer that an ordinancehas a life of six months. “Thisordinance, which was passedby the Cabinet on September20, could not get the Governor’sapproval as it is yet to reach hisoffice. And now as the VidhanSabha session is being held onNovember 6, all the ordinances,whether in process or passed,would lapse.

The day a session begins,the ordinance has to bereplaced by a bill which shouldbe passed by the House with-in 42 days (six weeks), else itlapses,” added the official.

With the unrest amongthe Congress’ elected repre-sentatives rising to anotherlevel, the Chief Minister decid-ed to accommodate six MLAsas its advisors, allotting five ofthem with the Cabinet and onewith the Minister of Stateranks.

Now to add these posts tothe list of posts that are notconsidered office of profit for

the purpose of disqualificationof MLAs, and with the con-cerned Ordinance set to belapse, the Government is bring-ing an amendment to the Actso that the “MLAs, appointedin this category, shall not bedisqualified”.

Notably, the Punjab StateLegislature (Prevention ofDisqualification) Act, 1952,had been enacted in terms ofArticle 191 of the Constitutionof India, to declare certainoffices of profit as not being eli-gible to disqualify the holdersfrom being Members of theState Legislature.

“The said Act has under-gone minor amendments fromtime-to-time. However, suchamendments have not taken inaccount the complexity ofmodern day governance.Further, these amendmentshave not taken into account thereports and studies of variousParliamentary Committeeswhich addressed the issue ofoffice of profit. Therefore, thereis a need to amend Section-2 ofPunjab State Legislature(Prevention ofDisqualification) Act, 1952,”the Cabinet felt.

It may be recalled that theState Government had appoint-ed six advisors to the ChiefMinister, a move which wasdescribed by the Opposition asan attempt to circumvent the

constitutional cap on the cab-inet size and “daylight robbery”of the state exchequer.

Four MLAs — KushaldeepSingh Dhillon of Faridkot,Amarinder Singh Raja Warringof Gidderbaha, Sangat SinghGilzian of Urmur and InderbirSingh Bolaria of AmritsarSouth — had been designatedas advisors (political) in theCabinet rank.

Fatehgarh Sahib MLAKuljit Singh Nagra, whom wasalso awarded Cabinet rank,had been designated as advisor(planning), along with AttariMLA Tarsem Singh DC whowas given the rank of aMinister of State.

Nagra and Warring havealready refused to accept theperks and facilities as per theCabinet rank.

Already, an advocateJagmohan Singh Bhatti hadchallenged the appointments inthe Punjab and Haryana HighCourt arguing that the appoint-ments of six MLAs was a vio-lation of the provisions of theConstitution (91th amend-ment) Act, 2003, which stipu-late that the strength of cabinetministers could not exceed 15percent of total strength ofmembers of the House.

Only recently, the StateGovernment had allottedoffices to all the six advisors inthe main civil secretariat,

besides the staff.

PUNJAB TO SET UP CSRADVISORY BOARD

To streamline various CSRactivities and to create a neu-tral platform involving allstakeholders, Punjab Cabineton Friday approved the con-stitution of Punjab CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR)Advisory Board under thechairmanship of the ChiefMinister, as well as a CSRAuthority under the ChiefSecretary.

The Board and Authoritywould ensure systematic chan-nelization of CSR funds intothe most needed sectors andprojects, according to thedevelopmental priorities of thestate, said a spokesperson of theChief Minister’s Office.

The Board would be con-stituted under the chairman-

ship of the Chief Minister,with members includingHealth and Family WelfareMinister, Finance Minister,Industries and CommerceMinister, Chief Secretary,Administrative Secretaries ofIndustries and Commerce andFinance departments,Industries and Commercedirector, besides maximum fiverepresentatives or experts fromindustry to be nominated bythe chairman.

It has also been decidedthat the Board may co-opt anyother Minister or officer, if nec-essary, as its members, with theChief Minister authorised totake a decision in the matter.

The Board would meettwice a year to review the CSRactivities in the state, besidesproviding requisite guidanceand advice to the Punjab CSRAuthority for taking up appro-

priate CSR projects in the state. The Punjab CSR Authority

would consist of the ChiefSecretary as its chairman, withAdministrative SecretariesIndustries and Commercealong with Finance as its mem-bers, besides Chief ExecutiveOfficer (full time professional)as Member Secretary.

CII Punjab Chapter chair-man, FICCI Punjab Chapterchairman, PHD Chamberchairman, ASSOCHAMPunjab Chapter chairman andany other institution or indi-vidual as decided by theAuthority or the Governmentwould be invitees. TheAuthority may also co-opt anyother officers as may be nec-essary as its Members.

ORDINANCE TOENHANCE SC PANELCHAIRPERSON AGE LIMIT

Cabinet also approved thepresentation of the PunjabState Commission forScheduled Castes(Amendment) Ordinance-2019 in the ensuing session ofPunjab Vidhan Sabha forenactment which would paveway to enhance the age limitfrom existing 70 to 72 yearsfor appointment as chairper-son of the Commission. Thiswould also allow more expe-rienced persons to beappointed as chairperson of

the SC Commission forensuring effective implemen-tation of laws meant for pro-tecting and safeguarding theinterests of the SCCommission belonging to thePunjab state.

MECHANISM TO REGU-LATING FEE OF UNAIDEDEDUCATIONAL INSTITU-TIONS

To provide a mechanismfor regulating the fee of unaid-ed educational institutions inthe state, the Cabinet has givenits approval to amend thePunjab Regulation of Fee ofUnaided EducationalInstitutions Act, 2016, throughpresentation of a Bill in theVidhan Sabha for its conversioninto Act.

The amendment will alsoprotect the interests of theunfortunate students whoseearning family members dieduring their study in unaidededucational institutions, as nofee will be charged from themtill the completion of theirstudies.

Further, to expedite thedisposals and reduce theinconvenience caused by thecomplainants, the RegulatoryBody constituted under thesaid Act is proposed to bereconstituted at the districtlevel rather than the division-al level.

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The Congress LegislatureParty (CLP) in Haryana on

Friday authorised party presi-dent Sonia Gandhi to pick itsleader.

The first meeting of theCLP, chaired by HaryanaCongress President and MP,Kumari Selja, unanimouslypassed a resolution and decid-ed to elect the Leader of theLegislature Party and left it tothe Congress President.Sources indicated that formerchief minister Bhupinder SinghHooda will be appointed andbecome the Leader ofOpposition in the state.

The meeting was attendedby AICC General Secretaryin-charge of the state, GhulamNabi Azad, MadhusudanMistry, as Observer. All partyMLAs were present in the

meeting. Mistry personallyinteracted with all the MLAsseparately to know their views.

Sources said that at a meet-ing of the CLP that the MLAsproposed two names -- formerchief minister Hooda and for-mer CLP leader KiranChoudhary for the post, trig-gering a tug of war between thetwo groups. While 25 MLAsbacked Hooda, six were infavour of Choudhary, they said.

Ahead of the Assemblyelection in Haryana, theCongress high command had

replaced Ashok Tanwar withSelja as the state party chief andChoudhary as CLP leader withHooda. Tanwar later quit theparty. In the 90-memberAssembly Congress has 31members and performed well.

Addressing the meeting,Azad said Congress fought theassembly elections stronglyand the people have alsoresponded by giving the Partya bigger share in seats.

Addressing the meeting,Selja said Congress will play therole of strong opposition,

adding that the anti-peopledecisions of the Governmentwould be opposed stronglyboth inside and outside theHouse and on Streets.

She congratulated thenewly elected MLAs and askedthem to raise the issues of thepublic vigorously.

She also urged candidateswho were defeated in assemblyelections not to lose their heartand work strongly in theirconstituencies.

Hooda said the results ofthe assembly elections sug-gested that the public hasbecome disenchanted with BJPand the future belongs to theCongress. "All Congress lead-ers and activists will have toraise their voices against theanti-people decisions of thegovernment from now on andtake care of the people's suf-fering," he said.

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Vice President VenkaiahNaidu on Friday said that

abrogation of Article 370 hasremoved the barriers betweenJammu & Kashmir and the restof the country, resulting in thereal unity of the nation.

Naidu said this in hisspeech at the inauguration ofthe 21st North East Book Fairhere.

"Article 370 was a barri-er between Kashmir and therest of the country and itsabrogation approved by boththe Rajya Sabha, where thegovernment does not have amajority, and Lok Sabha by anoverwhelming majority clear-ly shows the real unity of thenation", he said. "Kashmiris an integral part of India and

it is the prerogative of thegovernment to decide on howto reorganise its administra-tive units. It is within theconstitutional framework andthe Parliament has approved",Naidu added.

There are, however, somepeople who are trying to"spread disinformation and wemust launch a campaign

against this. Moreover,Kashmir is an internal matterof our country and nobody hasthe right to interfere in ouraffairs", Naidu said.

"Our neighbouring coun-try is interfering in our inter-nal matter by aiding, abettingand training terrorists to cre-ate trouble in our country. Weshould be cautious and countertheir efforts", he added.

The abolition of Article370 is the culmination of thedreams of the people of thenation and "we must shun thedivisive forces, have love andaffection for all, irrespective of caste, creed orreligion to make the countrymore strong and stable andprove to the world that Indiais one and united", the Vice-President said.

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The current situation inKashmir is "not sustain-

able" and needs to change forsure, German ChancellorAngela Merkel on Friday toldGerman media ahead of her‘restricted meeting’ with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andafter co-chairing the fifth Inter-Governmental Consultations(IGC) with him.

However, the Kashmir sit-uation was not discussed dur-ing the IGC and as per sources,Merkel expected to hear fromPrime Minister Modi plansfor Jammu & Kashmir duringtheir ‘restricted meeting’ "Asthe situation at this moment (inKashmir) is not sustainableand not good, this has tochange for sure," Merkel wasquoted as having said byGerman sources.

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Amid calls for stopping stub-ble-burning in States

adjoining Delhi, which is fac-ing severe dip in air quality,Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on Fridayannounced cash incentivesfor those reporting such inci-dents and directed officials toencourage farmers to opt alter-natives.

His announcement cameon a day a Supreme Courtpanel on pollution controldeclared a public health emer-gency in the national capital,and according to the Centre’sair quality monitor SAFAR, theshare of stubble burning inDelhi’s pollution stood at 46 percent, the highest so far.

An official release issuedhere said Khattar met officialsto review the crop residue

management (CRM) scheme inhis State.

He directed officers of theAgriculture and Farmers’Welfare Department to visit 10villages where maximum inci-dents crop residue burninghas been reported and ascertainthe reason behind it, the releasesaid.

He said a cash award of�1,000 would be given to thoseinforming about such inci-dents in their area and theiridentity would be kept secret,it added.

He said that the Deputy

Commissioners (DCs) of theconcerned districts would alsoorganize meeting of ‘GramSabha’ in these villages so thatdetailed deliberations could beheld with the farmers on theissue.

Directions were also issuedfor exploring various optionsfor the purchase of cropresidue from farmers. Hedirected to explore the possi-bilities of utilization of cropresidue in sugars mills forpower generation, the releasesaid, adding he sought a reportin this regard at the earliest.

Khattar’s Delhi counter-part Arvind Kejriwal has oftenblamed the Delhi’s pollution onstubble-burning in Punjab andHaryana and requested therespective state governments tostop it.

Khattar also said discus-sions should be held on pro-

viding latest instruments tofarmers and benefits of variousschemes for encouraging themto sell their crop residue andadopt the crop residue man-agement.

He also directed theDeputy Commissioners to takestringent measures to prohib-it the burning of crop residuein their respective districts.Hewas informed that a 34 per centreduction was recorded in stub-ble burning in the state up toOctober 22 as compared to thecorresponding period of theprevious year, the release said.

Last year, crop residueburning was reported on57,000 hectares of land area ascompared to only about 38,000hectares this year. It is alsomentioned that there was areduction of 6.5 per cent inci-dents as compared to last yearas on date.

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The Delhi High Court onFriday dismissed former

Finance Minister PChidambaram’s request forinterim bail in the INX Mediacase on health grounds after theAIIMS Medical Board informedthe court that the seniorCongress leader’s health condi-tion is fine and he does notrequire hospitalisation.

Solicitor General TusharMehta read out the report of themedical board, set up on thecourt’s order to examineChidambaram’s health condi-tion, and told Justice Suresh Kaitthat the Congress leader wasexamined by the doctors in themorning and does not requirea sterile environment.

This development has comeas a setback for Chidambaram,who was knocking at all legalforums to get out of the prison.After the examination of themedical report, the court reject-ed the interim bail petition ofthe former Minister, who citedCrohn disease and wanted to betreated in Hyderabad.

Crohn’s disease refers tothe inflammation of the diges-tive tract leading to abdominalpain, diarrhoea and also weightloss. On Thursday,Chidambaram’s lawyer KapilSibal argued that Crohn’s diseasemay lead to cancer, narrating the“pathetic” medical conditionof Chidambaram.

The HC will hear his regu-lar bail petition on Monday inthe Enforcement Directorate’s

case related to money launder-ing in the INX Media case. Thecourt, however, directed theTihar Jail Superintendent thatthe surroundings ofChidambaram in jail should beclean and hygienic.

He should be providedhome-cooked food, mineralwater, mosquito protection netand repellant and that hisdwelling area be cleaned twicea day, the HC said. The courtadded that he should be pro-vided face mask which he canwear, if the need arises.

Besides, the judge directedthat Chidambaram’s regularblood pressure monitoring,sugar test and other medicaltests should be done and peri-odical follow up as an outpatientbe done once a week.

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Page 5: ˝ ˇ ˛˚ ˚˜ ˜ ˚˜ ˇ$ · As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, ... the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai for swearing-in ceremony on November 5. ˘˘ ... Government-mandated

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Aformer top White Houseofficial confirmed that

military aid to Ukraine washeld up by President DonaldTrump’s demand for the ally toinvestigate Democrats and JoeBiden but testified that there’snothing illegal, in his view,about the quid pro quo at thecenter of the Democrat-ledimpeachment inquiry.

Tim Morrison, whostepped down from theNational Security Council theday before his Thursday testi-mony, was the first WhiteHouse political appointee toappear and spent more than

eight hours behind closeddoors with House investigators.

“I want to be clear, I wasnot concerned that anythingil legal was discussed,”Morrison said about a pivotalphone call between Trumpand the Ukraine president,according to preparedremarks obtained by TheAssociated Press.

Late Thursday, Trumptweeted about Morrison’s com-ment that no law was broken:“Thank you to Tim Morrisonfor your honesty.” ButMorrison also confirmed whatdiplomat William Taylor toldinvestigators in earlier testi-mony — that Morrison had a

“sinking feeling” when helearned that Trump was askingthe Ukrainians to publiclyannounce an investigation ofBiden and the Democrats,even as the Republican presi-dent denied it was a quid proquo.

“I can confirm,” Morrisonwrote, that the substance of thediplomat’s testimony “is accu-rate.” Morrison told investiga-tors that he and Taylor did notrealize the money was beingwithheld for the investigationof Burisma, the gas companyconnected to Biden, until aconversation with EuropeanUnion Ambassador GordonSondland in September.

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Using Russia-based serversand promoted by powerful

groups linked to China’s rulingCommunist Party, a sophisti-cated anonymous website istargeting Hong Kong pro-democracy figures — and thereis almost no way to stop it.

From high-profile activiststo journalists and lawmakers,about 200 people seen as sup-porting Hong Kong’s protestmovement have been “doxxed”— had their personal detailsposted online — by the site, HKLeaks, since it emerged inAugust.

“I received hundreds ofthreatening calls,” a femalereporter at Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper, toldAFP.

“They would call me abitch, and a prostitute, and tellme to watch out or they would

kill me.” Disclosing certainpersonal details, includingphone numbers, without con-sent is illegal in Hong Kong.

Privacy CommissionerStephen Wong said onSeptember 17 he had orderedHK Leaks to take down allposts.

But the site remains online:on its front page, a photo ofblack-clad protesters with aChinese-language banner say-ing: “We want to know whothese people are and why theyare messing up Hong Kong!”Personal details — names,home addresses, personal tele-phone numbers —of hundredsof people are posted alongsidedetails of their “misdeeds”.

More than two millionpeople follow Facebook pagesthat have shared HK Leaksposts, according to data fromsocial media monitoring plat-form CrowdTangle.

Washington: More Americansapprove of the impeachmentinvestigation into PresidentDonald Trump than disapproveof it, though only about a thirdsay the inquiry should be a toppriority for Congress, accordingto a new poll from TheAssociated Press-NORC Centerfor Public Affairs Research.

That solid, if measured, sup-port serves as a warning sign forWhite House and re-electioncampaign, which have insistedthat pursuing impeachment willend up being a vulnerability forDemocrats heading into 2020.

But the findings presentsome red flags for Democrats,too: More people say Housemembers are motivated by pol-itics rather than by duty as theyinvestigate the Republican pres-ident’s dealings with Ukraine andwhether he abused his office orcompromised security when hetried to pressure the country todig up dirt on a political rival. AP

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British euroskeptic politi-cian Nigel Farage tried to

ramp up pressure onConservative Prime MinisterBoris Johnson on Friday, say-ing his Brexit Party would runagainst the Conservativesacross the country unlessJohnson abandons his divorcedeal with the European Union.

Farage’s party was foundedearlier this year to push for ahard Brexit and currently hasno seats in Parliament. It rejectsJohnson’s divorce deal withthe EU, preferring to leave thebloc with no agreement onfuture relations in what it callsa “clean-break” Brexit.

Launching the BrexitParty’s campaign for Britain’sDec. 12 election, Farage saidJohnson’s deal “is not Brexit”because it would mean con-tinuing to follow some EUrules and holding years of

negotiations on future rela-tions.

“Boris tell us this is a greatnew deal. It is not. It is a badold treaty and simply it is notBrexit,” Farage said.

He spoke a day after U.S.President Donald Trump urgedhis friend Farage to make anelectoral pact with Johnson’sConservatives.

Trump barged into theBritish election campaign onThursday, telling Farage onthe British politician’s radiophone-in show that he and

Johnson would be “anunstoppable force.”

Farage, who played a keyrole in the 2016 campaign forBritain to leave the EU, saidthat if Johnson agreed to aban-don his deal, the Brexit Partywould form a “non-aggressionpact” with the Conservatives,standing aside in many areas.

If the Brexit Party runs inonly a small number of seats,

that would help theConservatives, who are vyingwith Farage for the support ofBrexit-backing voters.

“I believe the only way tosolve this is to build a ‘leave’alliance across this country,”Farage said.

“If it was done, BorisJohnson would win a very bigmajority.” Farage said that ifJohnson rejects the offer, “wewill contest every single seat inEngland, Scotland and Wales.”Johnson has ruled out an elec-toral pact with Farage.

“We are not interested indoing any pacts with the BrexitParty or indeed with anybodyelse,” Communities SecretaryRobert Jenrick said Friday.“We are in this to win it.”

The prime minister soughtthis election, which is beingheld more than two years early,to break the political impasseover Britain’s stalled departurefrom the EU.

Washington: The Houseimpeachment inquiry is zeroingin on two White House lawyersprivy to a discussion about mov-ing a memo recountingPresident Donald Trump’s phonecall with the leader of Ukraineinto a highly restricted comput-er system normally reserved fordocuments about covert action.

Deepening their reach intothe West Wing, impeachmentinvestigators have summonedformer national security advis-er John Bolton to testify nextweek. But they also are seekingtestimony of two other politicalappointees — John Eisenberg,the lead lawyer for the NationalSecurity Council, and MichaelEllis, a senior associate counselto the president. AP

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Democrats swept a rulespackage for their impeach-

ment probe of PresidentDonald Trump through a divid-ed House, as the chamber’sfirst vote on the investigationhighlighted the partisan breachthe issue has only deepened.

By 232-196, lawmakers onThursday approved the proce-dures they’ll follow as weeks ofclosed-door interviews withwitnesses evolve into publiccommittee hearings and —almost certainly — votes onwhether the House should rec-ommend Trump’s removal.

All voting Republicansopposed the package. Everyvoting Democrat but two sup-ported it.

Underscoring the pressureTrump has heaped on hisparty’s lawmakers, he tweeted,“Now is the time forRepublicans to stand together

and defend the leader of theirparty against these smears.”

Yet the roll call also accen-tuated how Democrats haverallied behind the impeach-ment inquiry after HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi spentmonths urging caution untilevidence and public supporthad grown.

She and other Democraticleaders had feared a prematurevote would wound the reelec-tion prospects of dozens oftheir members, includingfreshmen and lawmakers fromTrump-won districts or seatsheld previously by Republicans.But recent polls have shownvoters’ growing receptivity tothe investigation and, to a less-er degree, ousting Trump.

That and evidence thatHouse investigators haveamassed have helped \unifyDemocrats, including thosefrom GOP areas. Rep. CindyAxne, D-Iowa, said she was

supporting a pathway to giving“the American people the factsthey deserve,” while Rep. AndyKim, D-N.J., said voters war-rant “the uninhibited truth.” YetRepublicans were also buoyedby polling, which has shownthat GOP voters standunflinchingly behind Trump.

“The impeachment-obsessed Democrats justflushed their majority down thetoilet,” said Michael McAdams,a spokesman for HouseRepublicans’ campaign arm.

Elsewhere at the Capitol onThursday, three House panelsled by the IntelligenceCommittee questioned theirlatest witness into the allega-tions that led to the impeach-ment inquiry: that Trump pres-sured Ukraine to produce dirton his Democratic politicalrivals by withholding militaryaid and an Oval Office meet-ing craved by the country’s newpresident.

London: US President DonaldTrump ruffled a few feathers inthe UK with an intervention onthe country’s upcoming GeneralElection by backing his “friend”UK Prime Minister BorisJohnson and categorisingOpposition Labour Party LeaderJeremy Corbyn as “so bad” forBritain.

In an interview with LBCRadio with host and far-rightBrexit Party Leader Nigel Farageon the phone overnight onThursday, Trump pushed for analliance between theConservatives and Farage’s partyas an “unstoppable” force for theDecember 12 polls.

“I have great relationshipswith many of the leaders, includ-ing Boris who’s a fantastic man– I think he’s the exact right guyfor the times,” Trump said.

“I know that you and himwill end up doing something thatcould be terrific – if you and heget together it’s [an] unstoppableforce,” he said. AP

Washington: A US-based soft-ware engineer, whose namewas listed in the Green Cardbacklog, died suddenly and asa result, his pregnant wife hasbeen rendered out of statusresulting in her inevitablereturn to India, a media report said.

Shiva Chalapathi Raju, whowas based in North Carolina,died suddenly on Tuesday, TheAmerican Bazaar reported onThursday.

Because the family was inline for Green Card, Raju’s sud-den death would mean that hispregnant wife, Bobby Sowjanya,was now rendered out of statusand would have no choice butto travel back to India.

Raju had been workingwith Oracle as a developerclient in High Point, NorthCarolina. In the past, he hadalso worked for Wipro andBritish Petroleum in Michiganand Illinois. IANS

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Aleading women’s rightsorganisation has filed a

petition seeking the removalof Munir Akram as Pakistan’sambassador to the UnitedNations, calling his re-appointment “illegal, unlaw-ful and void-ab-initio”.

The petition in the SindhHigh Court, filed by theWomen’s Action Forum(WAF) on Thursday, alsomentioned the allegations ofdomestic abuse against thediplomat, according toPakistani media reports.

The PakistanGovernment has appointedAkram as permanent ambas-sador to the UN replacingMaleeha Lodhi.

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Islamabad: Jamiat UlemaIslam-Fazl (JUI-F) chiefMaulana Fazlur Rehman, lead-ing the Azadi march demand-ing the resignation of PrimeMinister Imran Khan, has givenhim a two-day deadline toresign.

Addressing the march in

Islamabad on Friday, Rehmansaid that we are giving two days’time to Imran Khan to resign andother ‘National Organisations’ towithdraw support.

He said, “If we feel that theorganisations continue to backthe illegitimate Government,then they have two days’ time.

After that we shouldn’t bestopped from forming our per-spective about them. PM hastwo days to resign. If he does-n’t resign, then the people ofPakistan are capable of enteringthe PM House forcefully andarrest the Prime Minister.”

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Page 6: ˝ ˇ ˛˚ ˚˜ ˜ ˚˜ ˇ$ · As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, ... the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai for swearing-in ceremony on November 5. ˘˘ ... Government-mandated

US President Donald Trump’sover-enthusiastic and cinemat-ic description of the end ofIslamic State (IS) leader AbuBakr al-Baghdadi notwithstand-

ing, the global reaction to the latest counter-terror operation was more nuanced and bal-anced. The global “war on terror”, which offi-cially started in the aftermath of the 9/11attacks, has continuously evolved and mutat-ed to include the likes of the IS and has sub-designated subsequent operational initiatives.Take for example, Operation InherentResolve.

Irrespective of nomenclature and terrororganisations involved, the “war on terror”has been conducted with numerous interna-tional powers, regional nations and sectar-ian militias, who often worked at cross-pur-poses. This chessboard-like landscape fre-quently distracted various forces fromfocussing on the principal terror organisa-tion ie, IS and, instead, checkmated eachother, while delaying the decimation of theIS’s infrastructure and leadership. Such anunaligned environment compromised on theoperational efficacy of the “war on terror”and most importantly allowed social justi-fications to the terror organisations to per-petuate their perverse logic.

The capture of Osama bin Laden in 2011did not automatically amount to neutralis-ing the very idea of Al Qaeda, which has sincesurvived in various metastasising inspirationsand formats across the world. Ironically, AbuBakr al-Baghdadi was himself taking coverin a territory in the Idlib province that wascontrolled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham(HTS), which itself is an affiliate of Al Qaeda.Even the demise of Bin Laden eight years ago,the subsequent naming and shaming of hisatrocities and the emergence of the moredominant IS formation could not complete-ly obliterate the “idea” of this terroristorganisation. In the fight against terror, themaxim, “one terrorist killed gives rise to twonew terrorists”, holds true unless the “idea”of terror itself is addressed and not just thefoot-soldiers of the “idea.” Many Al Qaedaaffiliates today bear little resemblance or con-nection with each other, let alone any formof coordination. Yet, the “idea” has inspiredterror organisations in West Africa, NorthAfrica, Somalia, Spain, the Afghan-Pakregion to organisations as far as thePhilippines.

Former US President Barack Obama wasmore restrained, realistic and clinical in han-dling the “taking out” of Osama bin Ladenas he presumably realised both the enormi-ty of the act and yet the limitations of thesame in ending the “war on terror” thatnecessitated a more fundamental change ofsocietal perceptions. Obama had recognisedthe importance of remaining “inclusive” andnot giving into blustering rhetoric when hepresciently stated that “his (Osama’s) deathdoes not mark the end of our effort. There’sno doubt that Al Qaeda will continue to pur-

sue attacks against us.” He saga-ciously added, “We must alsoreaffirm that the US is not —and never will be — at war withIslam. I’ve made clear, just asPresident Bush did shortly after9/11, that our war is not againstIslam. Bin Laden was not aMuslim leader; he was a massmurderer of Muslims. Indeed, AlQaeda has slaughtered scores ofMuslims in many countries,including our own. So hisdemise should be welcomed byall who believe in peace andhuman dignity.”

No such reassuring tone oremotion was at display inTrump’s moment whenBaghdadi was killed. He gloat-ed inelegantly about the terror-ist “crying, screaming and whim-pering” besides adding thatBaghdadi “died like a dog.” In apolarised world, increasing voic-es of “us versus them” played outopenly. This conveniently andunfairly lumped people togeth-er by virtue of their religiosity,nationality or even the topicalstatus as US “allies.” In thisbackdrop, the opportunity tohonour the moment by talkingabout the regressive “idea” thatbesets terrorism in a sensitiveway was lost to the usual urgencyof self-aggrandisement byTrump.

While the end of Baghdadi

is an important milestone, it wasalmost foretold with his organ-isation getting diminished con-siderably in the recent past.Importantly, the genesis of boththe Al Qaeda earlier and IS laterwas based on extreme anti-Americanism, a sentiment thathad festered in the region forlong and one that was exploitedby these terror organisations.

In 1997, Osama bin Ladenhad said, “As a result of an arro-gant atmosphere, the US hastoday set a double standard, call-ing whoever goes against itsinjustice a terrorist.” A potentmix of the prevailing sense ofinjustice, ignorance and reli-gious benefaction was mali-ciously invoked by such-likeforces, ably aided by the belliger-ence of the US actions that per-sisted with the “us versus them”divide. This fundamental battleof perceptions between the US’efforts and the locals in conflictzones is an age-old one withAmerica repeatedly displayingvery limited and selfish objec-tives, then bolting out immedi-ately on achieving them andleaving a dangerous vacuumthat is often filled by the likes ofIS. This selfish short-sightednessof the US is what germinated theTaliban after it vacatedAfghanistan in the early 1990sand this is exactly what germi-

nated the IS when it vacated Iraq(after Saddam Hussein’s hang-ing) at the hands of sectarianmilitias.

As the most dominant inter-ventionist in global conflicts, theUS has to tackle the battle of per-ceptions in negating the “idea”that gives rise to forces like theTaliban, IS or Al Qaeda. The not-so-subtle mention of the“Muslim ban” during the presi-dential question and answersession following Baghdadi’skilling was exactly the sort ofcontextualisation that is unhelp-ful, unwarranted and unfair.

All the historical injustices,discrimination and double-stan-dards that were committed bythe colonists earlier and by theUS more recently, are the criti-cal closure-points that can negatethe “idea”, rather than just theelimination of terrorists. Historyof all successful counter-insur-gency closures in the worldpoint out the change in percep-tion of the locals, which thenresults in the suffocation of anylocal support system for the ter-ror infrastructure to survive.Till that happens, the killing ofany terrorist, however senior inranking, is still just a statistic.

(The writer, a military veter-an, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry)

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Unwelcome visit” (October30). Post the abrogation of Article370, a clampdown in the Valleywas in order but it cannot be pro-longed beyond a point. TheBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) per-haps feared a political whiplashand adverse impact on itsprospects in the Maharashtraand Haryana Assembly elections.Its political bravado was evi-dently short-lived.

But having now felt the grow-ing national unease through theAssembly election results, theBJP must realise the futility ofextending the siege in the Valley.The visit of MPs from theEuropean Union (EU) to get a“first-hand feel” of the ground sit-uation or any other ploy will onlyhelp to the extent of buying time.Otherwise, it will compound theburden of remedy.

International opinion is fick-le; though it is favourable today,it can abruptly change tomorrow.The sooner we move on to thenext phase the quicker we can putthe Kashmir episode behind us.

R NarayananMumbai

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Sir — Recent media reports havementioned the steps taken tocheck large-scale evasion of theGoods and Services Tax (GST) by

way of false claim of input taxcredit (ITC), which includes cap-ping the number of invoices intune with business turnover.

The Government has alreadyamended the rules to restrict theITC to 20 per cent of the eligible

amount for an entity in case thesupplier has not uploaded rele-vant invoice.

All such steps will rather fur-ther complicate the already-cum-bersome GST system. A simplerway may be to retain the ITC sys-

tem only for trade activities, abol-ishing it from manufacture andservice sector. In such a scenario,only two basic GST rates of 10 and25 per cent can replace the vari-ous GST slabs. Increasing the GSTfor gold, silver and diamonds to10 per cent may not result in dou-ble taxation. Cess should bereplaced by additional GST slabs;petrol and diesel should alsocome under the GST system.

Madhu AgrawalDelhi

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Sir — It isn’t surprising thatCongress leader Rahul Gandhi willskip the 10-day agitation organisedby his party to protest against keyissues under the ModiGovernment. The timing of hiscurrent “meditation trip” has raisedeyebrows. That Rahul will miss outon a golden opportunity to con-front the Modi Government speaksvolumes not only about his polit-ical inexperience but also hisinability to lead the party.

SwetaVia email

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In the Budget presented on July 5, UnionFinance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanannounced disinvestment of the

Government’s shareholding in public sectorundertakings (PSUs) to a level below 51 per centon a “case-by-case” basis. The Cabinet Committeeon Economic Affairs (CCEA) is expected toapprove this policy soon.

The 51 per cent threshold is very crucial asshareholding at this level or above enables theGovernment to have majority ownership andcontrol over the undertaking. If the holding isreduced to below 51 per cent, this will lead torelinquishment of majority ownership and con-trol, or privatisation in plain words. This will betransformative — a bold reform indeed. But, holdyour breath, there is a caveat appended to it.

In the Budget speech, Sitharaman hadexplained that the intent was to change the extantpolicy of the Government “directly” holding 51per cent or above in a PSU to one whereby itstotal holding, “direct” and “indirect,” is main-tained at 51 per cent. This caveat changes theentire complexion of the stated intent. So, whatis “indirect” holding?

To illustrate, let us take the case of the IndianOil Corporation Limited (IOCL). In addition toits direct shareholding of 51.5 per cent, the UnionGovernment has majority shares (above 51 percent) in a number of other PSUs which in turn,hold shares in IOCL. Thus, Life InsuranceCorporation (LIC), which is 100 per cent ownedby the Centre, holds 6.5 per cent shares in IOCL.The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)which is 63 per cent owned by the Government,holds 14 per cent shares in IOCL. Likewise, OilIndia Limited (OIL) which is 60 per cent ownedby the Government, holds 5 per cent shares inIOCL.

The “indirect” shareholding of the UnionGovernment in IOCL via its holdings in the threeother PSUs, viz LIC, ONGC and OIL, works outto 18.3 per cent (6.5x1 + 14x0.63 + 5x0.6).However, when it comes to control or ability toinfluence decisions of IOCL, the “indirect”contribution will be 25.5 per cent (6.5x1 + 14x1+ 5x1) as the predominant view of the majorityshareholder, that is the Centre in LIC, ONGC andOIL, would prevail. Including “indirect,” the effec-tive control of the Union Government in IOCLis 77 per cent (51.5 per cent+25.5 per cent).

With these numbers in the backdrop, whatthe Finance Minister is alluding to is that the“direct” shareholding of the Government in IOCLcan be reduced from the existing 51.5 per centto 25.5 per cent. With this, technically thoughit may have changed its status to that of a minor-ity shareholder with a mere 25.5 per cent hold-ing, including the “indirect” control will still giveit a majority share of 51 per cent.

Thus, contrary to what one may infer froma plain reading of the numbers that the ModiGovernment has taken a bold decision to priva-tise IOCL, in reality it is not so. With theGovernment continuing to retain overarchingcontrol, the very purpose of the exercise — whichis to entice a strategic investor to come and trans-form the way an enterprise is run, make it growfaster and enhance its competitiveness in anincreasingly challenging world — will be defeat-ed.

True, with the Government’s shareholding

dipping below 51 per cent and theundertaking stripped off the PSU tag,it can avoid coming under the scannerof the statutory watchdogs like theCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI),Central Vigilance Commission (CVC),Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG). But, continuous interference bythe political brass and bureaucratscan’t be ruled out. Hence, the strategicinvestor will think many times beforetaking the plunge.

A major reason as to why last yearthe sale of Air India could not gothrough had to do with theGovernment’s decision then to retain 24per cent shareholding, which discour-aged bidders (this anomaly has nowbeen corrected with the offer of 100 percent of its shareholding under the saleplan during the current year).

With change of policy stance toretain 51 per cent shareholding (albeitdirect plus indirect) in PSUs up forstrategic sale — the reluctance amonginvestors will be even greater. This willalso affect the Government’s ability tofetch a good price though this can’t byitself be an objective of strategic sale.

Collateral damage has to do withthe Government losing policy spacewith regard to its future course of actionon undertakings whose continuedmajority ownership is necessary forexercising “indirect” control over thesaid PSU (IOCL is an example) to therequired extent.

If, at some future point of time, itwants to undertake privatisation of sayOIL, it won’t be able to do it as that willhave the inevitable effect of losing con-trol over IOCL as well.

A decision with regard to an under-

taking should be made taking intoaccount the circumstances facing it andin the overriding interest of maintain-ing its health, competitiveness andgrowth. Its fate can’t be tied to that ofany other PSU which the Governmentwants to control.

The very concept of looking at indi-rect control to arrive at a decision ondisinvestment militates against thisfundamental tenet.

The instinct of the Government toretain control even while executing itsstrategic disinvestment plans is dis-cernible even in its previous actions.During 2017-18, it sold 51.11 per centof its shareholding in HindustanPetroleum Corporation Limited(HPCL) to ONGC. In 2018-19, it sold52.63 per cent of its shareholding inRural Electrification Corporation(REC) to Power Finance Corporation(PFC).

Though touted as good examples ofstrategic sale, in reality it was not so, aseven after relinquishing 51 per cent plusshareholding, the Government contin-ues to exercise full control (albeit indi-rectly) over HPCL/REC by virtue ofbeing majority owner in the acquirernamely, ONGC/PFC.

During the current year also, it iscontinuing with this strategy as reflect-ed in its decision to sell all of its 100 percent stake in North Eastern ElectricPower Corporation (NEEPCO) and 75per cent in THDC India Limited.

These shares will be picked up byNational Thermal Power Corporation(NTPC) and NHPC Limited respective-ly which are majority owned by theGovernment. So, post-divestment, theownership and control of NEEPCO and

THDC India will remain with theUnion Government (albeit indirectly).

The only case where the ModiGovernment has shown gumption to gofor strategic disinvestment in the truesense of the term is in its decision to sellall of its 53.29 per cent shareholding inBharat Petroleum Corporation Limited(BPCL) — the refiner and retailer ofpetroleum products — to a privateinvestor. This will result in transfer ofthe ownership and management con-trol — lock, stock and barrel — to theacquirer.

This has generated huge interestamong all global energy majors likeSaudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia), Total SA(France), ExxonMobil (USA), RoyalDutch Shell (UK/Netherlands), BP Plc(UK) and so on.

Post-acquisition by any of thesegiants, BPCL will become an integralpart of the global supply chain and willbe able to operate free from all encum-brances, take quick decisions and runefficiently as per global standards fordelivering low cost and best qualityproducts.

The Government should follow theBPCL model for undertaking disinvest-ment of all other PSUs. Its instinct toretain control, by hook or by crook,should give way to wholesome trans-fer of ownership and authority to pri-vate investors.

While being in the best interest ofthe undertaking, this will also garnerrequired resources for the exchequer ata time when it is facing a huge short-fall in tax collection even as expendi-ture continues to grow.

(The writer is a New Delhi-basedpolicy analyst)

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India, along with China, is amongthose nations that have good rela-tions with both Saudi Arabia and

Iran. This helps them to diversifytheir oil imports, especially after theUS withdrew sanctions waivers foroil imports from Iran. Energy secu-rity is a crucial aspect of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s visit toSaudi Arabia. India gets 18 per centof its crude oil and 22 per cent of itsLiquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)requirements from the kingdom.

A memorandum of understand-ing (MoU) was signed betweenAramco and Indian StrategicPetroleum Reserves Limited(ISPRL). Aramco can sell Indianrefiners a portion of the 4.6 millionbarrels of oil stored at the ISPRL

facility in Padur, Karnataka. Theseinvestments are a way to rope in bigIndian refiners as customers. Indiahas huge energy needs and Gulf pro-ducers like Saudi Arabia are keen tohelp satisfy this demand.

Ellen R Wald, president ofTransversal Consulting, says, “SaudiAramco is a major supplier of oil toIndia. The sanctions on Iranianshave only increased Saudi Arabia’simportance as a reliable source of oilto the growing Indian market. At thesame time, Aramco sees India as animportant growth area and is look-ing to grow its investment in thecountry in the refining sector.”

Hasan Alhassan, associate fellowon Gulf-South Asia relations at theInternational Institute for StrategicStudies, says, “By inviting PrimeMinister Modi to deliver the keynoteaddress at its apex economic sum-mit, Saudi Arabia wants to showcaseto the world the strength of its grow-ing relations with India, a keyemerging power. In return, the visitwill enable Modi to claim that hisGovernment’s controversial deci-

sion on Jammu & Kashmir has donenothing to harm India’s relationswith Muslim countries.

“On the economic front, Modiis probably hoping to inject momen-tum into planned Saudi invest-ments in India’s refining and petro-chemicals sector, reportedly worthtens of billions of dollars. SaudiAramco is negotiating the purchaseof a sizeable portion of RelianceIndustries’ refining and petrochem-ical business, while teaming upwith Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc to set up amassive refinery in Maharashtra.

“Moreover, Modi’s visit — pre-ceded a few weeks earlier byNational Security Advisor (NSA)Ajit Doval’s appearance in Riyadh —also appears to carry a security com-ponent in the form of joint navalexercises and cooperation agree-ments in the area of defence pro-curement.” Against the backdrop ofthe drone-and-missile attacks onSaudi Aramco in September, NewDelhi is anxious to avoid militaryescalation in the Gulf, a region thatsupplies India with almost two

thirds of its oil imports and is hometo millions of NRIs.

Saudi Arabia as a leading Islamicnation and the custodian of the twoholy mosques, Harmain Shareefainand Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, can offerIndia its support on the Kashmirissue.

Ashok K Behuria, senior fellowand coordinator of the South AsiaCentre at New Delhi-based thinktank Institute for Defence Studiesand Analyses (IDSA) says this pointof view is flawed. He says that “weshould stop looking at India-Saudirelations from the narrow prism ofKashmir or Indo-Pak relations.India and Saudi Arabia are enhanc-ing strategic dialogue. The India-Saudi relationship is a multi-layeredstrategic relationship with energy,investment and defence cooperationin its purview.”

Qamar Agha, retired professorof West Asia Studies at Jamia MilliaIslamia University, says that “untilnow, Saudi Arabia looked at Indiathrough the Pakistan prism butthat’s in the past now. Globalisation

is forcing India and Saudi Arabia tocome closer. Ideology and politicsare in the back seat and economicsis the driver of the relationship.”

Bilateral trade is $27.5 billion,mostly in petroleum products, infavour of Saudi Arabia and $5 bil-lion in favour of India. Saudi Arabiais now looking to invest $100 billionin India, a country with a huge mid-dle-class of 250-300 million people.

Though at present the GrossDomestic Product (GDP) growthrate of the India has slipped to fiveper cent in the first quarter of thefinancial year, the lowest in over sixyears, there are hectic efforts beingmade by the Government to ensureeconomic recovery through concert-ed fiscal reforms.

The Indian economy is at the$2.7 trillion mark and FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanexpects it to grow to $5 trillion by2024-25. Also, over 2.6 millionIndians work in Saudi Arabia andsend home remittances to the tuneof $10 billion or more annually.

The main driver in India-Saudi

Arabia relations might not be ener-gy ties or search for legitimacyfrom the country that is custodianof the two holy mosques. It is strate-gic cooperation and defence ties.

The Strategic PartnershipCouncil chaired by Modi and Saudicrown prince Mohammad binSalman was established during thisvisit. India and Saudi Arabia willhave their first-ever joint navalexercise in December. An MoU oncooperation in defence productionwas also signed.

Talmiz Ahmad, former Indianambassador to Saudi Arabia, Omanand the UAE, says, “The strategicdimension of the ties is important.India-Saudi ties have been institu-tionalised. A strategic platform fordialogue between the NSAs hasbeen created. The relationship hasmoved from one dependent onenergy sales.”

An MoU has even been signedconcerning collaboration in militaryacquisition, industries, research,development and technologybetween Saudi General Authority of

Military Industries (GAMI) andDepartment of Defence Production,Ministry of Defence.

Cooperation in civil aviation wasalso discussed and Saudi Arabialooks to increase business to its flagcarrier Saudia.

Colby Connelly, research asso-ciate at the Arab Gulf States Institutein Washington, who works on thepolitical economy of the GCC States,says, “The Indian civil aviationmarket is huge for Saudi Arabia’sefforts to make Saudia, its nationalcarrier, profitable by 2020. Saudia’sacquisition of more than 60 newfuel-efficient Airbus A320 family air-craft will surely bolster its capabili-ty to compete in this market. Asidefrom the enormous amount of directair traffic between the kingdom andIndia on a daily basis, Saudia mayalso seek to compete with QatarAirways and UAE-based airlines asa transit point for journeys betweenIndia and North America.”

(The writer is a journalist whospecialises in geopolitics of India’sneighbourhood and cyber security)

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Page 8: ˝ ˇ ˛˚ ˚˜ ˜ ˚˜ ˇ$ · As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, ... the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai for swearing-in ceremony on November 5. ˘˘ ... Government-mandated

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Maharashtra will have ChiefMinister from the Shiv

Sena, senior party leader SanjayRaut said on Friday amidstandoff with ally BJP oversharing the top post.

Talking to reporters here,he said there has been no talksyet between the BJP and theSena on Government forma-tion.

The Maharashtra ChiefMinister will be from the ShivSena, he asserted.

“No ultimatum to the BJP(on Government formation).They are big people,” the RajyaSabha MP said.

If the Sena decides, it canget the required numbers toform a stable Government inMaharashtra, he said.

People have given mandateto form government on thebasis of “50:50 formula” thatwas reached in front of the peo-ple of Maharashtra, Raut said.

In the just-held state polls,the BJP won 105 seats, whilethe Sena got 56 in the 288-member Assembly.

The Uddhav Thackeray-ledparty is demanding the post ofChief Minister for 2.5 years and50:50 division of portfolios.

Both these demands havebeen rejected by the BJP whichhas insisted that Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis will con-tinue to hold the post for thenext five years.

Mumbai: NCP leader AjitPawar has said his party andally Congress will sit in theoppositioneven as the rulingBJP and the Shiv Sena remainengaged in tussle overGovernment formation inMaharashtra.

Pawar said the people ofthe state have asked his partyto sit in the opposition, asreflected in the election results,and it will do the same.

He made the remarks aftera meeting of key NCP leadersat party president SharadPawar’s residence late nighton Thursday.

The former Maharashtradeputy chief minister’s com-ments came amid speculationabout the Shiv Sena-NCPforming government in thestate with outside support fromthe Congress.

The NCP won 54 seats,

while its ally Congress clinched44 seats.

On the other hand, the BJPand Shiv Sena won 105 and 56seats, respectively, in theOctober 21 election to the 288-member Assembly.

Ajit Pawar, re-elected fromthe Baramati assembly seat inPune district, refrained fromcommenting on the ongoingwar of words between the saf-fron allies over sharing ofpower in the new government.

“The taunting going onbetween the BJP and the ShivSena is completely their con-cern. I have no reason to makeany statement in that regard...

“The people have asked theCongress, NCP and allies to sitin the opposition. We willwork accordingly,” Ajit Pawartold reporters wearing a smileon his face.

He said the BJP and the

Shiv Sena may discuss govern-ment formation and come to aconclusion.

Ajit Pawar also said theNCP, the Congress and theirother allies will meet GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari in a dayor two on the issue of damagecaused to crops by untimelyrains in various parts of the State.

The meeting of NCP lead-ers followed several newly-elected Congress MLAs toocalling on Sharad Pawar in theevening on Thursday.

Maharashtra Congresspresident Balasaheb Thoratand former Maharashtra ChiefMinisters Ashok Chavan andPrithviraj Chavan also metSharad Pawar on Thursdaymorning.

The trio later flew to Delhito hold parleys on the issuewith party president SoniaGandhi. PTI

Mumbai: The impasse overgovernment formation inMaharashtra continued onFriday, eight days afterAssembly poll results wereannounced, even as theCongress targeted the BJP for“cheating” the Shiv Sena.

Maharashtra may head forPresident’s rule if the newGovernment in the State is notin place by November 7,Finance Minister and BJPleader Sudhir Mungantiwarsaid.

The tenure of the existingLegislative Assembly ends onNovember 8.Mungantiwar saidthe delay in talks between BJPand Sena was due to the Diwalifestival, adding parleys willstart in a day or two. PTI

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������������������(� ������ ���������������5������4�� .=��� ����������������Aurangabad: A farmer fromBeed district in Maharashtrawants to be Chief Minister tillthe ruling BJP and the ShivSena resolve their differencesover power-sharing and formation of the nextGovernment.

The farmer, Srikant VishnuGadale, a resident of Vadmauliin Kej taluka, has expressed thiswish in a letter submitted to theoffice of Beed collector onThursday.

He wrote in the letter, “TheShiv Sena and the BJP are yetto resolve their issue regardingthe post of Chief Ministerwhich was raised after the2019 assembly election results.

“Natural calamities (unsea-

sonal rains) have hamperedready-to-harvest crops in theState. The farmers are tenseover these calamities.”

“At a time when farmersare suffering, the Shiv Sena andthe BJP are unable to resolvethe issue of holding ChiefMinister’s post.

“Hence, till the issue isresolved, the governor shouldhand over the responsibility ofChief Minister’s post to me,”Gadale said.

“I will solve the problemsof farmers and give them jus-tice,” he said.

The farmer also wrote thatif the administration does nottake note of his letter, he wouldprotest through “democraticmeans”. PTI

Lucknow: Ahead of theAyodhya case verdict, seniormember of the All IndiaMuslim Personal Law BoardMaulana Khalid RasheedFirangi Mahali on Friday saidimams should advice Muslimsto repose faith in theConstitution and judiciary andmaintain communal harmony.

Chief Justice of IndiaRanjan Gogoi is expected todeliver verdict in the Ayodhyacase before his retirement onNovember 17.

In a statement hereMaulana Khalid said, “Asmedia reports suggest theSupreme Court’s judgementon Ayodhya is going to comesoon. You are aware of the factthat the Ayodhya case is thebiggest and most sensitive caseof independent India. Theentire country and globalcommunity is looking towards the judgement. Hence,it is the responsibility of everycitizen to honour the judge-ment of the court and maintainpeace.”

“My appeal is to everyimam of various mosques tomake appeal that Muslims neednot to feel afraid, but they

should repose faith in country’sConstitution and judiciary, and whatever the judgementcomes, we should honour it,” hesaid.

Maulana Khalid alsoappealed to people not toindulge in any type of celebra-tion after the judgement isout, not to indulge in sloganeering nor undertakeprotests.

“No issue should be raisedwhich may hurt religious sen-timents. The fabric of com-munal bonhomie and Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb should not beallowed to be damaged,” hesaid.

A 5-judge Constitutionbench headed by the CJI hadreserved the verdict on October16 after concluding the 40-day-long hearing in the politicallysensitive case

Fourteen appeals havebeen filed in the apex courtagainst the 2010 AllahabadHigh Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, thatthe 2.77-acre land in Ayodhyabe partitioned equally amongthree parties — the Sunni |Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and RamLalla. PTI

Puducherry: LieutenantGovernor of Puducherry KiranBedi on Friday said ChiefMinister V Narayanasamy’sremark on her was ‘unparlia-mentary, uncalled for,uncivilised and uncouth, andunacceptable.’

The Chief Minister had onThursday called Bedi a demon,who was posted in the UnionTerritory by the Centre,because she had allegedly beenimpeding implementation ofwelfare schemes decided upon by the territorial cabinet.

The former IPS officeraired her outrage against theChief Minister in her whatsappmessage. She said, “Demons donot work for the larger goodand demons want everythingfor themselves and also scarepeople.” PTI

Chennai: Two newly-electedAIADMK MLAs in TamilNadu were sworn in here onThursday.

V Narayanan and RMuthamilselvan, elected fromNanguneri and Vikravandiconstituencies respectively,were administered the oath ofoffice in the presence ofAssembly Speaker P Dhanapal.

Chief Minister KPalaniswami and his deputy OPanneerselvam, both of whomare top leaders of theAIADMK, were present.

The AIADMK had wonthe two seats in the October 21bypoll, defeating archrival DMKin Vikravandi (Villupuram dis-trict) and Congress inNanguneri (Tirunelveli).

With the election of thetwo MLAs, the strength of theruling party in the 234-mem-ber Tamil Nadu Assembly hasincreased to 125, including theSpeaker.

Meanwhile, Palaniswamiand Panneerselvam, accom-panied by the newly electedMLAs, paid floral tributes atthe memorials of party stal-warts, the late chief ministers MG Ramachandran and JJayalalithaa, at the Marina here. PTI

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Acourt here on Friday con-victed six accused, includ-

ing two Pakistani nationals, inthe attack on a CRPF camp inRampur in 2008 in whichseven jawans of the paramili-tary forces and a civilian werekilled.

The court of the addition-al district judge held themguilty under various sectionsand will pronounce the quan-tum of sentence on Saturday.

It, however, acquittedMuhammad Kausar (a residentof Pratapgarh) and Gulab Khan(a resident of Bareilly), accusedof hiding the weapons used inthe attack.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad said thosefound guilty are Sharif (residentof Rampur), Sahabuddin (res-ident of Bihar’s Madhubani),Imran (resident of Bhimhar inPakistan Occupied Kashmir),Muhammad Farooq (residentof Gujranwala in Pakistan),Baba (a resident of Moradabad)and Faheem Arshad Ansari (aresident of Mumbai).

They are lodged in jails inLucknow and Bareily, ADGATS Dhruva Kant Thakur said.

In 2008, terrorists attackedthe Rampur-based CRPF groupcentre, in which seven CRPFjawans and one civilian werekilled, while some jawans andcitizens had sustained seriousinjuries.

Cases were registeredagainst eight persons undervarious sections of IPC, ArmsAct, Prevention of Damage toPublic Property Act, TheExplosive Substances Act andThe Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act.

Reacting to the court ver-dict, Uttar Pradesh DGP O PSingh tweeted, “Today Hon’bleADG-3 court, Rampur pro-nounced 6 terrorists guilty ofthe 2008 attack on @crpfindiaGroup Center, Rampur, inwhich 8 ppl had lost theirlives. I commend UP ATS fortheir professional investiga-tion and diligent trial follow-up.” PTI

Ahmedabad: Severe cyclonicstorm ‘Maha’ is likely to bringheavy rainfall over southernparts of Gujarat fromNovember 6, the IndiaMeteorological Departmentsaid on Friday.

Maha has now become asevere cyclonic storm and iscentred over east-centralArabian Sea near LakshadweepIslands, a release from theMeteorological Centre heresaid.

Maha is likely to move inthe north-westward directionin the next 24 hours and thenwest-northwestward duringNovember 2-4 and “intensifyinto a very severe cyclonicstorm during the next 24hours”, it stated.

“November 6 onward, it

would take a re-curve in theeast-northeast directiontowards the south Gujaratcoast. We expect it to bringheavy rainfall in the southGujarat region, includingcoastal belt of Saurashtra,” saidMeteorological Centre DirectorJayanta Sarkar.

The IMD has not made anyspecific prediction about thepossible landfall of the cyclone.

The release said thecyclone may bring light tomoderate rainfall in southGujarat during the next 24hours.

Several parts of Gujaratwere battered by unseasonalrain in the last few days due tocyclone Kyarr, which has nowweakened and moved towardsOman. PTI

Shillong: In a bid to protectthe interest of tribal citizens, theMeghalaya Cabinet on Fridayapproved the amendment to anAct that seeks mandatory reg-istration of outsiders for enter-ing the State.

The State cabinet approvedthe amended MeghalayaResidents, Safety and SecurityAct, 2016, Deputy ChiefMinister Prestone Tynsongsaid.

“The amended Act hasbeen approved and it will comeinto force with immediateeffect. It will be regularised inthe next session of the StateAssembly,” he told reportersafter the meeting.

He said the decision wastaken after several meetingswere held with the differentstakeholders including politicalparties and NGOs.

“Any person who is not aresident of Meghalaya andintend to stay more than 24hours in the state will have tofurnish document to theGovernment.

“This is done for their(outsiders) own interest as wellas for the interest of the gov-ernment and people ofMeghalaya. They will be muchsafer,” he said.

Employees of the Centre,state and District Councils areexempted from the purview ofthe Act, he said.

The Meghalaya Residents,Safety and Security Act, 2016(MRSSA) was passed by thethen Congress led MUA-IIgovernment as part of a com-prehensive mechanisms tocheck illegal immigration, inlieu of the Inner Line Permit(ILP).

Tynsong said when theAct was first passed in 2016, thefocal point was on tenants.

The instructions had been

given to all landlords to makesure that papers were in placeand they should inform the tra-ditional community heads(Rangbah Shnongs, Dolloisand Nokmas), the deputy chiefminister said.

According to him, theamendment to the Act is“inclusive and safe”.

“We will redraft the exist-ing rules to ensure simple pro-cedures for registration, andalso allow online registration.Once the rules are ready, it willbe placed before the cabinet,”he said.

The deputy chief ministersaid that the district task forcesheaded by the respectivedeputy commissioners willhave to be more proactive.

He said any person, whowillfully fails to furnish theinformation or provide falsedocument, will be liable to bepunished under various sec-tions of the Indian Penal Code(IPC).

There was an increasingdemand to enhance vigil

against influx of non-indige-nous people in the hill state, fol-lowing the implementation ofthe National Register ofCitizens (NRC) in Assam.

The updated final NRC,which validates bonafideIndian citizens of Assam wasreleased in August this yearwith the authority conductingthe exercise shutting out the cit-izenship claims of over 19 lakhapplicants.

Meanwhile, the cabinet hasalso approved the MeghalayaCharcoal (Control ofProduction, Storage, Trade andTransit) Amendment Rules,2019, proposed by the Forestand Environment department.

The amendment wasbrought in to restrict the usageof charcoal, produced withinthe state, in ferro alloy indus-tries and the units have to pro-cure it from outside, Tynsongsaid.

Production of charcoal forlocal consumption (mostly forcooking purposes) is stillallowed, he added. PTI

Agartala: The High Court ofTripura on Friday upheld thelife imprisonment awarded to12 people for killing thenCongress MLA Parimal Saha36 years ago.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice Sanjoy Karol and JusticeArindam Lodh also handeddown life term to anotheraccused who had been acquit-ted by the trial court in 2016.

Parimal Saha, the thenMLA from the Charilam con-stituency, and his companionJiten Saha were hacked to deathon April 7, 1983 at Office Tillalocality under Bishalgarh policestation limits, about 20 kilo-metres from here.

A complaint was lodgedwith the police against 25 peo-ple in connection with thecase. The case dragged on foryears before the then Chief

Justice of the Tripura HighCourt Deepak Gupta in 2015ordered its reopening.

Thirty-three years after thekilling, additional district andsessions judge of West Tripuraon April 30, 2016, convicted 12of the 17 accused in the mur-der case and acquitted five.

Of the seven other accused,six died during trial and oneremains absconding. PTI

Bengaluru: As the BJPGovernment in Karnataka is allset to complete 100 days in officeon November 2, Congress leaderSiddaramaiah on Friday gave ascore of “zero” for Chief MinisterB S Yediyurappa-led Ministry,alleging no development workhad happened.

Calling Yediyurappa a“weak Chief Minister”, theLeader of Opposition in the stateAssembly said transfers, “woo-ing” disqualified MLAs were themain achievement of thisGovernment so far.

“Where is the performanceor achievement to score, there isnothing...Zero, zero,” the formerChief Minister said to a questionon his score for the YediyurappaGovernment.

He said, “There is no devel-opment work that has happenedunder this administration, what

they have done is, one-transfers,second- made 17 MLAs resign,then they have allocated morefunds to disqualified MLAs con-stituency, while withdrawingwhat was allocated to Congress-JD(S) MLAs, this is theirachievement.”

“Is this the all-round devel-opment of the state? This is thestate-of-affairs. Transfers havebeen happening like any-thing...This is their hundreddays rule. Yediyurappa has to pathis own back that’s all,” he saidadding the Government wasrunning in“reverse.”Siddaramaiah wasspeaking to reporters during ameet-the-press programmeorganised by the Press Club ofBengaluru and Reporters Guild,on the backdrop of theYediyurappa government com-pleting 100 days in office. PTI

Vadodara:Union CommerceMinister Piyush Goyal hasassured that the Centre will nottake any decision under theRegional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP)which would adversely affectmilk-producers in the country,Amul Managing Director RSSodhi said on Friday.

Sodhi told PTI he had adiscussion with Goyal onRCEP on Wednesday.

“Goyal has assured that nodecision will be taken by theCentre that will adversely affectthe milk-producers in the coun-try. The decision was conveyedto hundreds of milk producerswho assembled in Anand on

Thursday to mark the 74thFoundation Day of KairaDistrict Cooperative MilkProducers Union Limited (bet-ter known as AMUL),” he said.

He said farmers were keento understand implications ofRECP on the milk sector in thecountry.The meeting onThursday was also addressedby Amul vice chairmanRajendrasinh Parmar.TheRCEP, comprising 10-memberAssociation of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN) bloc and sixother countries — India, China,Japan, South Korea, Australiaand New Zealand, is engaged innegotiations for a free tradepact. PTI

Kolkata: The EasternCommand of the Indian Armyon Friday celebrated its 99thRaising Day at its headquarterat Fort William here, a Defenceofficial said.

A wreath-laying ceremonywas held on the occasion, withLt General Anil Chauhan,GOC-in-C Eastern Commandpaying homage to the fallenbraves at Vijay Smarak, the WarMemorial.

Lt Gen Chauhan calledupon everyone to continueworking with dedication anddevotion in the true traditionsof the Indian Army.

A display by the Armyband was organised at the FortWillam Stadium for all ranksand their families commemo-rating the occasion, the officialsaid.

The Eastern Commandwas raised on November 1,1920 at Nainital in present-day

Uttarakhand under GeneralSir H Hudson and had territo-rial jurisdiction over Delhi,Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Bihar,Odisha and Assam.

Thereafter, owing to oper-ational commitments, theCommand headquarters wasshifted to Barrackpore, Ranchiand Lucknow before being

permanently established at FortWilliam in the “immediatewake of the Sino-Indian con-flict” in 1962, a Defence com-munique said.

The Eastern Command,which has actively participatedin all major wars fought by thecountry, covers the largest geo-graphical area spread over eight

states overseeing 8,350 kilo-metres of land borders of thecountry, it said.

The Command is respon-sible for guarding the borderswith five countries - China,Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh andMyanmar.

The Command’s crown-ing glory was the 1971 war withPakistan, that led to the cre-ation of Bangladesh, it said.

Apart from safeguardingthe territorial integrity of thenation, the Command has alsoled a “highly successfulcounter-insurgency operation”in the North East, the statementsaid.

The Eastern Commandhas also been at the forefront ofhumanitarian assistance anddisaster relief operations, aid-ing thousands of affected peo-ple in this part of the country,the communique added. PTI

Mumbai: NCP chief SharadPawar on Friday visited Nashikdistrict in north Maharashtra totake a stock of crop losses dueto the rains, and demandedthat the Government help theaffected farmers.Untimely rainshave damaged crops in manyparts of the State.

Pawar’s visit came amiduncertainty over governmentformation in the State as theBJP and its ally Shiv Sena arebickering over the power-shar-ing formula.

“We will raise the issue withthe government after gettingdetailed information. We hopethe Government will listen to usand help (the farmers),” Pawartweeted after meeting farmers invarious parts of the district.

“The Government shouldprovide help to the farmers.

We will take strong view incase the government doesn’thelp,” the former Union agri-culture Minister added.

Pawar alleged that the gov-ernment has not taken any con-crete decision to provide com-pensation to the farmers.Theparameters used for givingcompensation are two- threeyears old while the current sit-uation is different, he added.

The NCP president alsosaid the farmers told him theywanted loan waiver, and addedthat the demand should be ful-filled immediately.

Pawar also said the farm-ers should not take any“extreme step” in the face of thiscrisis, and efforts will be madeto find a solution at the level ofboth the state and CentalGovernments. PTI

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The Central Bureau ofInvestigation probing the

Narada pay-off case has writ-ten to Lok Sabha Speaker OmBirla seeking his permission toprosecute three TrinamoolCongress Lok Sabha MPs

Sougato Roy, Prasun Banerjeeand Kakoli Ghoshdastidar.

The agency has also soughta similar permission for formerLok Sabha MP SubhenduAdhikary. Though Adhikary iscurrently functioning as theTransport Minister of Bengalhe was an MP when the Narada

scam took place. According to sources

in the CBI the Agency has“already sent threelettersto the Speaker seeking hispermission to file charge-sheet against the four TMCleaders but we are yet to

receive a clearance from hisoffice.”

The Narada video footagewent on air in 2016 showing anumber of TMC leadersincluding MPs Roy, Banerjee,Ghoshdastidar, Adhikary,Aparupa Poddar acceptingfinancial favour from MathewSamuel the Narada sting jour-nalist in lieu of future promise.

Names of Kolkata Mayorand State Minister SovanChatterjee, then TMC leaderMukul (now BJP general sec-retary), TMC leader andpresently a BJP functionary

Sankudeb Panda, StateMinisters Subroto Mukherjee,Firhad Hakim and TMC MLAIqbal Ahmed also figured inthe pay off case.

Ghoshdastidar earlierclaimed that she had acceptedthe cash for her party. “I hadtaken cash for my party andgave receipt too,” sheearliersaid adding she would contin-ue to cooperate with the inves-tigators.

The CBI has already sentthe voice samples of Adhikary,Ghoshdastidar, Banerjee andSougato Roy for forensic test.

On whether they were antici-pating arrest, one of the MPssaid, “I have full faith in theIndian judicial system,” adding“he like other TMC leaderswere part of a big political con-spiracy.”

Meanwhile, in an unrelat-ed development the BengalGovernment on Friday restoredpersonal security of SovanChatterjee who had last Augustcrossed over to the BJP fol-lowing his differences withChief Minister MamataBanerjee. The StateGovernment had then with-

drawn his security.The new development

came within a few days ofChatterjee resurfacing at theChief Minister’s Kalighat resi-dence on the Bhai Phonta(Bhai Duj) day.

When asked to commenton Chatterjee’s growing close-ness with Mamata Banerjeeand the restoration of Y-cate-gory security for him by theState Government, Bengal BJPpresident Dilip Ghosh said“anyone is free to visit anyplace. It is for Sovan babu totake his own decisions.”

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Rajya Sabha member, repre-senting Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP), NazirAhmad Laway on Friday paidheavy price for attendingswearing-in ceremony of thenew Lieutenant Governor ofJammu & Kashmir, GCMurmu in Srinagar onThursday. He was expelledfrom the party for indulging in“anti-party activities”.

“The member of RajyaSabha, Nazir Ahmed Laway,has been expelled from thebasic membership of the party,”a PDP spokesman said in astatement here.

Earlier, Laway had torn acopy of the Constitution, alongwith PDP MP Mir MohammedFayaz, on August 5 beforeUnion Home Minister AmitShah laid the Jammu &Kashmir Reorganisation Bill inRajya Sabha.

Prior to this, Laway hadabstained from voting againstthe Triple Talaq Bill in RajyaSabha this year.

Laway was among handfulof politicians who were invited to attend the swearingin ceremony as majority ofthem were not even extendeda formal invitation by the stateadministration. Even localmedia was not extended aninvitation to cover the swearing in ceremony.

PDP spokesman in a state-ment said, The decision toexpel him was taken by theparty leadership in view ofLaway’s participation in theswearing-in ceremony of thenewly appointed Lieutenant

Governor in Srinagar undermining the party’s stand.

He said that the participa-tion of the MP was in contra-vention to the party’s standregarding the current politicalsituation and the revocation ofJammu & Kashmir’s specialstatus under Article 370 of theConstitution.

Meanwhile, LieutenantGovernor Girish ChanderMurmu on Friday appointed DC Raina as first AdvocateGeneral of the Union Territoryof Jammu and Kashmir. Rainahas thrice served as the State’stopmost lawyer in the pasteleven years.

This was the first appoint-ment made by LG Murmuafter he was administered theoath on Thursday.

In another incident, a vehi-cle of Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) leader was set on fire bysome miscreants in southKashmir district of Kulgam inthe early hours of Friday.

Official sources said, mis-creants set on fire a vehicle ofBJP district Kulgam secretaryAbid Hussain Khan atBonagam at 0120 hrs. “Vehicle,which was parked outside hishouse, suffered major damage”.Another vehicle parked in thevicinity was also set on fire bythe same miscreants.

Khan had earlier duringthe day on Thursday metrecently elected BlockDevelopment Commission(BDC) chairpersons of the BJPin Kulgam. Police have registered a case and initiatedproceedings in the matter.

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In an attempt to projectAyodhya as a religious

tourism centre, the UttarPradesh Government has plansto construct a statue of LordRam on the line of the Statueof Unity of Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel and develop infrastruc-ture around it for which it hasproposed a budget of over �447 crore.

This and other decisionswere taken in a Cabinet meet-ing chaired by Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath in Lucknowon Friday.

Government spokesmanand Power Minister ShrikantSharma said that Ayodhyawould be developed as a reli-gious tourism centre with focuson construction of a huge stat-

ue of Lord Ram.“A digital library, inter-

pretation centre and food plazawould be set up there.Beautification and landscapingof the region will be done toattract tourists from acrossthe globe. The cabinet hasapproved a project costing

�447.46 crore of which �100crore has been released in thefiscal 2019-20,” Sharma said.

The Power Minister said that 61.3807 hectares ofland in Meerpur Dawa villagehad been acquired for thepurpose.

Kottayam: In yet anothersetback to Jose K Mani, a courtin Idukki district on Fridayupheld a lower court’s orderrestraining him from officiat-ing and discharging any func-tion as the chairman of theKerala Congress (M).

The Munsiff court had ear-lier issued an injunction orderpreventing Jose Mani fromofficiating as the chairman ofthe KC(M).

Challenging this, the Jose KMani faction filed an appealbefore the sub-court inKattappana in Idukki district.

The court dismissed theplea observing there was noneed to intervene in the mat-ter at this stage.

Rival P J Joseph faction in

the KC(M) had secured a stayorder from the local courtagainst the election of RajyaSabha MP Jose K Mani as theparty chairman on June 16.

Joseph, the working chair-man of the party, had declaredthe election as invalid and saidit was against the party consti-tution.

The Jose K Mani factionhad claimed that out of 437state committee members ofthe party, 325 attended themeeting which elected the newparty chairman.

Hailing the court’s decisionon Friday, veteran leaderJoseph said Jose Mani has noposition in the party as he didnot agree with its constitution. PTI

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T h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a m :Hardening its stand againstthe CPI(M)-led LDFGovernment in Kerala overthe acquittal of three accused inthe rape and death case of twominor sisters, BJP leaderKummanam Rajashekharanobserved a fast in front of theState Secretariat here demand-ing a CBI probe.

Addressing party workers,Rajashekharan, former

Mizoram Governor, lashed outat the LDF Government over its“criminal negligence” in thecase.The fast is part of the 100-hour satyagraha launched bythe BJP on October 29 over thedeath of the minor sisters fromWayalar in Palakkad district in2017.

The saffron party has alsodemanded the government tobring out a white paper on thecase.Rajashekharan, a former

Kerala unit president of the BJP,also criticised the StateWomen’s CommissionChairperson, M C Josephine,saying she is not concernedabout women’s safety.

Activists of the KeralaStudents Union (KSU) wavedblack flags at Culture Minister,A K Balan, in front of theT h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a mCorporation office here onFriday and were removed by

police.Protests had broken outat many places in Kerala afterthe acquittal of the threeaccused by POSCO court lastweek citing lack of evidence inthe case relating to the sexualassault and death of the twominor sisters at Wayalar inPalakkad.The two girls aged 13and nine were found hangingon January 13 and March 4,2017 inside their house.Thepost-mortem report had

revealed that they had beensexually assaulted.The parentsof the two girls had also metChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanhere on Thursday seeking CBIinvestigation.

The opposition Congress-led UDF had disrupted pro-ceedings on the first day of the16th session of the KeralaAssembly and staged a walkout,demanding a CBI probe intothe issue. PTI

Jaipur: The opening ceremo-ny of the 14-day long jointIndo-French exercise ‘Shakti-2019’ was held at the Mahajanfield firing ranges in westernRajasthan on Friday.

Soldiers of the SikhRegiment contingent of theIndian Army’s South WesternCommand and the FrenchArmy’s 21st Marine InfantryRegiment of the 6th ArmouredBrigade are participating in theexercise, which is aimed atenhancing inter-operabilitybetween the two armies andfurther strengthening of mili-tary relations between the twonations.

The opening ceremonysaw the national flags of boththe countries being unfurledamidst renditions of therespective national anthems.

The ceremony also wit-nessed synchronised marchingof troops to martial tunes,which was followed by aspeech by reviewing officers of

both the countries.“The shared commitment

to democracy, pluralism andmultilateralism is an importantdimension of the bilateral rela-tionship and global responsi-bilities between India andFrance,” Brigadier P S Cheemaof the South WesternCommand said.

“We share perspectivesabout countering terrorismwith a firm conviction. Wehave a lot to learn from eachother, especially in ourapproach towards handling themodern-day challenges posedby global terrorism,” he said.

“Our armies have gained awealth of knowledge on how tofight in a counter-terroristenvironment all across theworld. We have many lessonsto share with each other andcoming together today gives usthis opportunity,” ColonelLudovic Dumont, France’sDefence Attaché to India, said. PTI

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The Goods and Services Tax(GST) collections came in

at �95,380 crore in October,down 5.29 per cent from�1,00,710 crore in the samemonth last year, as per gov-ernment data released onFriday. This is the third con-secutive month when GSTmop-up remained below the �1lakh crore mark, despite thefestival season.

Revenue collection fromGST in September stood at�91,916 crore.

“The gross GST revenuecollected in the month ofOctober, 2019 is �95,380 croreof which CGST is �17,582crore, SGST is �23,674 crore,IGST is �46,517 crore (includ-ing �21,446 crore collected onimports) and Cess is �7,607crore (including �774 crorecollected on imports),” theFinance Ministry said in astatement.

Total number of GSTR 3Breturns (summary of self-assessed return) filed for themonth of September (up toOctober 30) was 73.83 lakh.

The total revenue earnedby the Central and the StateGovernments after regular set-tlement in October was�38,224 crore for CGST and�37,645 crore for SGST.

Commenting on the data,traders’ body CAIT said lowertax collections should not beassumed to be an indicator ofeconomic slowdown.

This lower GST collectionis a result of a major chunk ofoffline sales shifting to the e-commerce companies whichrecently concluded their festiveseason sales, it alleged.

“Since these companies byflouting the FDI policy areindulging in deep discountingand predatory pricing poli-cies, they have an expertise inavoiding GST and causing asevere loss of revenue to thegovernment,” CAIT said.

Vishal Raheja, DGM,Taxmann said that weakdemand, low GDP growth rateand decline in industrial out-put could be the reasons fordecrease in GST revenue inOctober.

He added that GST collec-tion in October has increased

by 3.78 per cent as comparedto September.

The rise, he said, could bedue to to early festival season.

“Recently, Government hasalso taken various fiscal mea-sures to boost economy and itwill surely help to raise revenuecollections. The Governmentmight consider implementingthe strict measures such asaudit, surveys etc. To curb theGST evasion and to eventual-ly increase the tax collection,”Raheja added.

Aditi Nayar, an economistwith ICRA, said the year-on-year decline in the GST col-lection in October is disturbing,although it can partly beexplained by the cumulativeimpact of GST rate cuts as wellas subdued consumptiongrowth.

“The next month’s collec-tions, which will cover the fes-tive period, will provide criti-cal cues as to the extent of slip-page that we could expect inthe GST collections in FY2020relative to the budgeted target,”she added.

GST was introduced fromJuly 1, 2017.

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New Delhi: Flipkart Ltd, theSingapore holding companyof the Indian e-commercemajor, narrowed its losses to�17,231 crore ($2.42 billion) forthe fiscal ended March 2019,while revenues grew by 42 percent over the previous year,according to financial dataplatform Paper.Vc.

The group managed toachieve a 63 per cent reductionin losses from �46,895 crore($6.6 billion) in 2018 to �17,231crore ($2.42 billion) for thefinancial year ending March 31,2019, it said. Flipkart posted�42,878 crore revenue fromcontracts with customers withtotal revenue adding up to�43,615 crore ($6.14 billion), itadded. PTI

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US employers added a solid128,000 jobs in October, a

figure that was held down by anow-settled strike againstGeneral Motors that causedtens of thousands of workers tobe temporarily counted asunemployed.

The unemployment rateticked up from 3.5 per cent to3.6 per cent, still near a five-decade low.

And for a second straightmonth, average hourly wagesrose a decent if less-than-robust 3 per cent from a yearago.

All told, the Octoberemployment report from thegovernment pointed to a still-sturdy job market that remainsa key source of strength for aUS economy that’s been weak-ened by trade wars and a glob-al slowdown.

The solid jobs data will alsomake it even less likely that theFederal Reserve, which cutshort-term interest rates thisweek for a third time this year,will do so again anytime soon.

The solid jobs data putstock investors in a buyingmood. The Dow JonesIndustrial Average rose about160 points in early trading.

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Telecom regulator Trai onFriday fixed phone call

ring time at 30 seconds formobiles and 60 seconds forlandline phones in case the callis neither answered nor reject-ed by a subscriber.

The new rules will comeinto effect after 15 days.

“The time duration of alertfor an incoming voice call,which is neither answered norrejected by the called party,shall be thirty seconds forCellular Mobile TelephoneService (CMTS) and sixty sec-onds for basic telephone ser-vice,” Trai said in an amend-ment to quality of servicenorms for basic telephone ser-vice and cellular mobile tele-phone service.

The UN body InternationalTelecommunication Union(ITU) has specifications forinternational calls or circuits inthe range of 1.5 minutes to 3minutes but there is no pre-scribed value for the timer fordomestic calls.

The present range of dura-tion of call alert by differenttelecom service providers(TSPs) varies from 30 secondsto 45 seconds in case of the

mobile networks, except onetelecom operator has set “alertduration” as 25 seconds and incase of basic telephone net-works, it varies from 60 sec-onds to 120 seconds.

Reliance Jio has accusedold operators, including Bharti

Airtel and Vodafone Idea, of“illegally” masquerading wire-line numbers as mobile num-bers for “undue enrichment”and has exhorted Trai to slap“severest penalty” on them forviolating regulations andlicensing norms.

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Car market leader MarutiSuzuki India made the

most out of the festive season,posting its first growth indomestic passenger vehiclessales after seven months inOctober, while other firmsincluding Hyundai, Mahindra& Mahindra and Toyota man-aged to arrest a continueddecline in vehicle offtake.

Tata Motors and HondaCars India also managed toimprove sales in October from

preceding months despite post-ing high double digit declinesduring the month. MarutiSuzuki India (MSI) posted agrowth of 4.5 per cent in itsdomestic wholesales at 1,44,277units in October as against1,38,100 units in the same peri-od last year. The company’s salesin the domestic market lastmonth were largely driven byincrease in offtake of compactsegment cars and utility vehicles.

Sales of compact segment,including models such as Swift,Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and

Dzire, grew 15.9 per cent to75,094 units last month asagainst 64,789 units in Octoberlast year. Similarly, utility vehi-cle sales grew by 11.3 per centto 23,108 units in October asagainst 20,764 units in thesame period of last year.

MSI Executive DirectorShashank Srivastava said thecompany has taken variousmeasures including steps toreduce cost of vehicle acquisi-tion and improving financeoptions to customers by initi-ating discussions with banks.

Mumbai: Under attack for notbeing able to prevent scams inthe banking sector, the RBI onFriday reorganised its supervi-sory and regulatory functionsinto two departments to dealmore effectively with potentialsystemic risk. The central bankhad separate departments forsupervisory function as well asregulatory function which havebeen integrated into two uni-fied departments.

The development followsthe RBI’s central board decisionto create separate supervisoryand regulatory cadre.

The Indian banking sectorhas witnessed a series of scams,including about �14,000 crorefraud in Punjab National Bankand the recent PMC Bank cri-sis that affected lakhs of depos-itors. Besides, several largeNBFCs have failed on theircommitments to service theirdebt.

“The Reserve Bank of Indiahas today (Friday) reorganisedits regulatory and supervisorydepartments,” the RBI said ina statement.

“...It has been decided tointegrate the supervision func-tions into a unified Departmentof Supervision, and regulatoryfunctions into a unifiedDepartment of Regulation witheffect from November 1, 2019,”the central bank said. PTI

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Ignoring its member RelianceJio’s contentions, telecom

industry association COAI hasshot off an “addendum” to itsearlier demands and has nowsought a complete waiver ofstatutory dues that its othermembers such as Bharti Airteland Vodafone-Idea owe to thegovernment following theSupreme Court ruling.

The Cellular OperatorsAssociation of India (COAI)director-general Rajan SMathews on October 31 shot ofa second letter in as many asdays to Telecom Minister RaviShankar Prasad seeking waiv-er of the “entire” amount of�1.42 lakh crore due to its prin-cipal members Bharti Airtel

and Vodafone Idea Ltd andother telecom operators “giventhe poor financial state of thesector.”

The Supreme Court onOctober 24 upheld theGovernment’s position onincluding revenue from non-telecommunication businessesin calculating the annual grossrevenues of telecom companies,a share of which is paid aslicence and spectrum fee to theexchequer. It directed the tel-cos to pay the principal duetogether with interest andpenalties within three months.

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The US has welcomed theruling of the WTO’s dispute

settlement panel which heldthat India’s domestic exportincentive schemes, describingit as a “resounding victory” for America’s quest fora “level playing field” for itsworkers.

India on Thursday lost acase filed by the US at theWorld Trade Organisation(WTO) against domesticexport incentives as the disputesettlement panel concludedthat these schemes are incon-sistent with the internationaltrade norms.

Reacting to the ruling,Trade Representative RobertLighthizer on Thursday saidunder the leadership ofPresident Donald Trump, theUS is “using every availabletool, including the WTOenforcement actions, to ensureAmerican workers are able tocompete on a level playingfield.”

“This is a resounding vic-tory for the United States,” hesaid in a statement.

In New Delhi, an officialsaid that India will appealagainst the ruling of WTO’sdispute settlement panel.

Washington: Google has agreedto buy Fitbit for $2.1 billion ina move giving the US techgiant an entry into the wearabletechnology space, the two com-panies announced Friday.

The move comes withGoogle seeking to expandbeyond its core business ofonline search into hardware,and with Fitbit strugglingagainst rivals including Apple.

“We have built a trustedbrand that supports more than28 million active users aroundthe globe who rely on ourproducts to live a healthier,more active life,” Fitbit co-founder and chief executiveJames Park said in a statementby the two firms announcingthe deal. AFP

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Atelecom consumers’ bodyhas sought removal of 6

paise interconnection usagecharge (IUC) from January 1next year as it deprives weakersections of the society of new ageservices and better experience.

Trai had proposed to movefrom the current IUC regime tothe BAK (bill and keep) regimewhere no operator will chargefor mobile call transmission,from January 1, 2020.

However, the regulatorrecently floated a consultationpaper on whether there is aneed to defer the date ofremoving mobile call termina-tion charge.

The Telecom User Group

(TUG) in it submission to reg-ulator Trai has requested tomove to BAK regime fromJanuary 1.

“Existing IUC regime willadd to the digital divide wherethe weaker sections of the soci-ety will not benefit from newertechnologies. Industry esti-mates suggest users are payingover Rs 200 on account of IUCannually.

“Consumers could spendthe same money for new ser-vices that will come throughtechnology upgrades and inno-vations,” Anil Prakash,President, TUG India said.

The TUG said continua-tion of IUC framework willdelay the process of moderni-sation of networks.

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A64-year-old depositor ofthe scam-hit Punjab &

Maharashtra Cooperative(PMC) Bank died due to aheart attack in neighboringNavi Mumbai, her family saidon Friday. Kuldeep Kaur Vig(64) is the seventh PMC Bankdepositor to have died after thealleged Rs 4,355 crore scam atthe bank came to light and theRBI imposed restrictions onwithdrawal of funds.

Kaur, resident of sector 10in Kharghar locality of NaviMumbai, died at a hospital on

Tuesday night. She was worriedabout her money stuck with thebank, and feeling quite stressedafter watching news aboutdepositors’ protest on TV, herhusband Varinder Singh Vig(74) said. She was rushed to ahospital but declared dead dur-ing treatment, he said.

Vig, who worked as acoach at Guru Teg BahadurHigh School in GTB Nagar,also had his own salary accountwith PMC Bank.

“We have our accounts inPMC bank for more than 15years. Some of our FixedDeposits were renewed recent-

ly, and a month after that thisscam came out,” he said.

“We don’t have money torenew our health insurance.The insurance firm had calledasking for renewal. I askedthem if they would accept acheque of PMC Bank,” he said.

“Seven depositors havedied so far. How many moredeaths the bank needs?” askeda bitter Vig. The EconomicOffences Wing of the MumbaiPolice has arrested five persons— three top officials of thebank and two promoters ofrealty group HDIL — in thescam.

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KANE’S BOWLING ACTION GIVEN ALL CLEARWellington: � � Q������ �������� $��)���������M���� ������������ �����#�������� ��������� �&�� �� ��� ����� ������ ��� &���� 1���������� 4�� +����� ��� /������� 1�� ���� ������������� ���� ����������� �&& ������ ���� ���������������������������1��������4��+����� �������:� �������,�����H��������� ������� ������������� ��� (������� ����� ������� �� ���������� ��� ��� ��� � :������� ����� �����������55�����

CHARLOTTE FLAIR TO VISIT INDIA THIS MONTHNew Delhi: ))(� ���� 5������� ����� ��� ��� ����������������&��&����������� �������4�����0�������� ��������������� �� ���� #����� &����#���@A��5������� ����#������������D��#�@A @;E�����.�������D��#�@SE�������&����������� ��������4�� �������4������0������������������������������&�5�����M�������������������� ��������������������������5����5���������

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India’s top doubles play-er Rohan Bopanna

advanced to the quarter-finals of the Paris Masterwith partner DenisShapovalov but his com-patriot Divij Sharanmade second round exit.

Bopanna and hisCanadian partner out-played American-Argentine pair ofManuel Gonzalez andAustin Krajicek 6-1, 6-3in their second roundmatch which lasted just59 minutes.

The Indo-Canadianteam broke the rivalsfour times and did notface a single breakpointduring its commandingwin.

However, Sharanand his Kiwi partnerArtem Sitak, whoentered the event asalternates and knockedout the fourth seeds ear-lier, lost 2-6, 3-6 toFrench team of FabriceMartin and JeremyChardy in just 53 min-utes.

Sharan has won twotitles this season, tri-umphing at Pune withBopanna and at StPetersburg with IgorZelenay.

They had united asa team at the beginningof the season, eyeingTokyo Olympics, butseparated after finding itdifficult to enter big tour-naments with their com-bined rankings.

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Zinedine Zidane said onFriday Gareth Bale has

resumed light training but willnot be available for RealMadrid’s La Liga game at hometo Real Betis.

Madrid can register theirthird consecutive victory bybeating struggling Betis todaybut Bale remains on the side-lines, as he continues his recov-ery from a calf problem.

Bale caused a stir thisweek by taking the day off onMonday to meet his agent inLondon, prompting reports inSpain he was discussing amove away from the SantiagoBernabeu in January.

But Zidane has insistedBale had permission to beabsent from the club and he isnow back in training.

The Welshman was notwith the rest of the squad forFriday’s early session but didsome running alone with ateam physio.

“He is here with us, he istraining and working hard,”said Zidane in a press confer-ence on Friday.

“He is back from his trip

and he is getting better. He isnot available yet but he isrecovering bit by bit.

Real Madrid sit second inLa Liga, a point behindBarcelona and one ahead ofAtletico Madrid and surprisehigh-fliers Granada, both ofwhom have played a gamemore.

James Rodriguez returnedto Madrid on Friday fromColombia after the birth of hissecond child, but he is notexpected to be involved thisweekend.

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Manchester United’shopes of a fourth suc-

cessive away win may hingeon in-form forward MarcusRashford passing a fitnesstest after manager OleGunnar Solskjaer revealedhe had hurt his knee.

Rashford, who injuredhis knee celebrating hisstunning second goal inWednesday’s 2-1 LeagueCup win over Chelsea, isone of three key players whoface late fitness tests on theeve of the match withBournemouth today.

Rashford, who turned22 on Thursday, is a doubtalong with defenders HarryMaguire and VictorLindelof, who picked upknocks late on in theChelsea clash.

“It’s still early,” said

Solskjaer at his eve of matchpress conference.

“Hopefully we can getthem back on the pitchtomorrow (Saturday).

“They had some treat-ment yesterday (Thursday)and they need a little moretreatment today and a lightsession.”

Rashford has been apivotal figure in United’supturn in fortunes.

He has scored five goalsin his last five games, withfour for United and one forEngland in the 6-0 win overBulgaria in the Euro 2020qualifier last month.

His goals have helpedUnited to an unbeaten runof four matches, a win anda draw in the PremierLeague plus wins in theEuropa League and LeagueCup.

Solskjaer has credited

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Indian women’s hockey teamtook a giant leap towardsOlympic qualification with

a near-flawless performance tohammer USA 5-1 in the first-leg of the two-match FIHQualifier here on Friday.

It was expected to be atricky tie for the hosts but thewomen punched above theirweight to simply demolishUSA’s challenge in front of apartisan crowd at the KalingaStadium.

Dragflicker Gurjit Kaur(42nd and 51st) struck bracewhile Lilima Minz (28th),Sharmila Devi (40th) andNavneet Kaur (46th) were theother scorers.

USA’s consolation goalcame from a penalty strokeconverted by Erin Matson inthe 54th minute.

Ranked ninth in the world,India now need to defend their

four-goal advantage in today’ssecond and final-leg to sealtheir Tokyo 2020 ticket. TheIndians exerted early pressureon the Americans but failed tocreate any clear cut opportuni-ties but the late goal in the sec-ond quarter seemed to haveworked wonders for the Indiangirls as they completely domi-nated the third quarter, pump-ing in two more goals to take acommanding 3-0 lead.

Within 30 second of thestart of the fourth quarter,India extended their lead froma counter-attack when Navneetcollected a pass from SalimaTete inside the ‘D’ before slam-ming the ball into the bottomright corner.

India rounded off the tallyin the 51st minute when Gurjitscored from the spot after theywere awarded a penalty strokefor Margaux Paolino’s foulinside the circle.

USA pulled one back soon

from a similar scenario, apenalty stroke converted byMatson.

Barring a few instances,India coach Sjoerd Marijnewas pleased with the perfor-mance of his team.

“Making use of opportuni-ties is a quality, which we didpretty well today. You could seewe played to our potential. Wewere really effective,” he said.

“The speed of Sharmilaand Salima, who are just 17 and18, were brilliant.”

Marijne begs to differ thatthe 5-1 scoreline has taken hisside on the thresh-hold of anOlympic ticket.

“Absolutely not. We haven’tgot the ticket to Tokyo today, wecan get it tomorrow. We havenothing so far,” he said.

“We were up 5-0 and want-ed to keep that scoreline. But wefell back a bit too much andneed to improve on that tomor-row.”

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Karolina Pliskova overcame amid-match stutter to book a

semi-final showdown with worldnumber one Ashleigh Barty after athree-set victory over Simona Halepat the WTA Finals on Friday.

The world number two lost sixstraight games in the second andthird sets but eventually prevailed 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 in one hour and 43 min-utes to secure the Purple Group’s sec-ond spot.

Defending champion ElinaSvitolina will play Belinda Bencic inthe other semi-final after she cappedoff an unbeaten round robin cam-paign with a 7-5, 7-6 (12/10) victo-ry over late replacement Sofia Kenin.

Pliskova believed she would bethe underdog against Barty. “She’shaving a great year, so it’s going to besuper tough,” she said.

“It’s going to be a big challengebut I have nothing to lose.”

In the earlier match, Svitolinawas pushed in the dead-rubber byworld No 12 Kenin, who replacedBianca Andreescu after the US Openchampion suffered a knee injuryagainst Pliskova on Wednesday.

Kenin was the second replace-ment used at the tournament afterKiki Bertens stepped in for worldnumber three Naomi Osaka, whowithdrew due to a shoulder injury.

Svitolina was relieved the matchdidn’t go the distance ahead oftoday’s semi-final against Bencic.

“For me the main thing is torecover first, to be fresh physicallyand mentally,” she said.

“We know the game style thatshe (Bencic) has. She takes the ballquite early and I have to be ready for

this,” she added.Kenin, an American rising star,

enjoyed her first taste of the lucrativeseason-ender. “Hopefully next yearI can come back here,” the 20-year-old said.

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���������������� �����������������������������the return from injury ofAnthony Martial who hasserved as an important sup-port to Rashford in attack.

“Since Anthony hascome back, Marcus hasflourished as well,” saidSolskjaer.

“He is happier, facinggoal, driving at people, tak-ing players on instead ofbeing that target man withhis back to goal.

“But Marcus wants tomaster all the skills in theend. But he has only justturned 22 so I am sure wewill see him up front as anumber nine.

“It may be as a two withAnthony or as part of a threelike we did at Norwich or outwide as we did at Chelsea.

“There are different waysof playing with Marcus.”

After successive awaywins at Partizan Belgrade in

the Europa League, Norwichin the Premier League andthen Chelsea, United hope toround off a run of four suc-cessive games on the roadwith another victory.

The uptick in form haschanged the mood aroundOld Trafford, and Solskjaerbelieves the 1-1 draw withrivals Liverpool two weeksago — United are the onlyteam to take points off theleaders thusfar this term —marked a line in the sand.

“The international breakcame at a great time for us,”said the Norwegian.

“We prepared for theLiverpool game and whenyou get a decent perfor-mance and result against theleague leaders, it gives you abit more energy.

“From then on, the boyswere happy with the work wedid.”

��3������,.�.�,.���.�����Novak Djokovic produced amagnificent performance to thrashseventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-1,6-2 and reach the Paris Masterssemi-finals on Friday.

The 32-year-old, battling RafaelNadal for the year-end world num-ber one spot, will face GrigorDimitrov for a place in the final afterdispatching Greek star Tsitsipas inonly 58 minutes.

The world number one wentinto the match with a 2-1 losingrecord against Tsitsipas, but put theyoungster in his place with a com-manding victory.

Djokovic will be usurped byNadal at the top of the rankings nextweek, but can ensure the fight to bethe best player at the end of the yearreaches the ATP Tour Finals inLondon by winning a record-extending fifth title at Bercy.

The crushing defeat endedTsitsipas’ run of three consecutivesemi-finals and dealt a blow to hisconfidence ahead of his maidenappearance at the season-endingchampionships, which start onNovember 10.

Djokovic holds an 8-1 winninghead-to-head record againstDimitrov, who saw off unseededChilean Cristian Garin 6-2, 7-5earlier in the day. AFP

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Mandeep Singh strucktwice as a below-parIndia struggled past

minnows Russia 4-2 in the first-leg of the two-match hockeyOlympic Qualifier here onFriday.

Mandeep (24th, 53rd min-utes) scored two field goalswhile Harmanpreet Singh (5th)and SV Sunil (48th) also hit thetarget for India.

It was an expected to be a'David vs Goliath' contest goingby the class and vast gap inworld rankings between thetwo teams but world no. 22Russia dished out a fightingeffort to surprise the hosts andkeep the difference of goals tojust two.

World no.5 India still can'tbreath easy as Russia clearlyshowed they are capable of cre-ating an upset in the second andfinal match on Saturday. Theaggregate winner at the end ofthe two-match qualifier willseal its place for the 2020 TokyoGames.

Russia had the first shot atthe goal in the third minute withPavel Golubev showing quick-thinking from a free-hit, takingit himself but his backhandeffort was blocked by Indiagoalkeeper PR Sreejesh.

Two minutes later, Russiagoalkeeper Marat Gafarov wascalled into action by India cap-tain Manpreet Singh, whosefirst shot was saved but wasfouled as he attempted his fol-low-up. The hosts made gooduse of the video referral to geta penalty stroke andHarmanpreet made no mis-take.

India were dominant but itwas far from cakewalk for thehosts as two minutes laterSreejesh was forced to makeanother save before the Russianswon a penalty corner. However,the chance went wasted becauseof a miss-trap at the top of thecircle from Iaroslav Loginov.

But two minutes into thesecond quarter, India were in fora shock as Russia equalisedthrough a field strike fromAndrey Kuraev, who afterreceiving an overhead pass, cutacross the top of the circlebefore guiding his shot into thebottom left corner past India'ssecond goalkeeper Krishan

Bahadur Pathak.Minutes later, a diving

Sergey Lepeshkin almost hand-ed Russia the lead but his angleddeflection from EvgenyArtemov's pass from the right,missed the top corner of theIndian goal by a fraction.

India, however, restoredtheir lead in the 24th minutethrough Mandeep, whothrashed home a backhandstrike into the bottom left cor-ner past Russia goalkeeperGafarov.

Just at the stroke of half-time, India secured their firstpenalty corner but

Harmanpreet's try was comfort-ably kept away by Gafarov as thehosts went into the break witha slender 2-1 lead.

The Russians continuedtheir good show and made abright start to the third quartercreating two good chances, thesecond of which almost pro-duced the equaliser. MaratKhairullin received the ballunmarked in the Indian circleand smashed a blistering back-hand strike just wide of the goal.

Russia matched their fan-iced opponents stick for stick butIndia, somehow, managed tohold on to their slender lead at

the end of the third quarter.After wasting their second

penalty corner, India finally gotsome breathing space by extend-ing their lead in the 48th minutethrough Sunil, who scored fromclose range following a goal-mouth scramble.

Mandeep scored his secondgoal of the day in the 53rdminute from a counter attack tomake the scoreline 4-1 in favourof the hosts.

Russia scored a vital secondgoal in the final minute of thematch through a penalty cornerconversion by SemenMatkovskiy.

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Page 12: ˝ ˇ ˛˚ ˚˜ ˜ ˚˜ ˇ$ · As in the case of Maharashtra and Haryana, ... the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai for swearing-in ceremony on November 5. ˘˘ ... Government-mandated

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Australia cruised past Sri Lankato clean-sweep their three-

match T20 series on Friday, with anin-form David Warner grindingout a third successive half-centuryin the seven wicket win.

The home team have beendominant throughout, winning by134 runs in Adelaide and by ninewickets with seven overs to spare inBrisbane ahead of the clash inMelbourne.

Sri Lanka’s batting had beeninsipid until now, but they finallyposted a competitive score of 142 forsix, with Kusal Perera hitting 57.

However their bowlers, led byLasith Malinga, have been no matchfor a quality Australian batting line-up, spearheaded by Warner who hasnow scored 217 in three inningswithout losing his wicket.

“It was pretty clinical once wegot into a routine,” said Australiacaptain Aaron Finch.

“The way the bowlers set it upfor us over the last two games, it wasoutstanding.

“Every game is a different chal-lenge and a different surface, so it’simportant to bring in your best, in

terms of preparation and mental sideof the game too.”

Warner, who scored an unbeat-en 100 and 60 not out in the open-ing two games, brings up his 50 off

44 balls to end the match unbeatenon 57, aided by Ashton Turner whochipped in with 22 as Australiareached 145 for three with 14 ballsto spare.

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Cheteshwar Pujara can’t wait for India’sfirst ever Day/Night Test despite all

the talk of it being a challenge as he is con-fident that the country’s formidable bat-ting line-up will have no trouble adapt-ing to the pink ball.

The prolific batsman topped the runcharts (453) with two daddy hundreds,including a 256 not out for India Blue inthe Duleep Trophy more than threeyears back when pink ball was experi-mented with for the first time by theSourav Ganguly-led BCCI technical com-mittee.

Now, after taking over as the BCCIpresident, Ganguly has convinced theBangladesh Cricket Board and both thecountries will play their maiden pink ballTest at Eden Gardens from November 22-26.

“It’s going to be exciting...What weplayed was a first-class match, this is goingto be a Test match. I’m sure all the play-ers are excited about it,” the Indian TestNo 3 said.

Pujara said pink ball could pose someproblems during the twilight period.

“In the twilight period, I feel thatmaybe, sighting the ball could be a littlechallenging. (But) the more you play, you

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Amaiden half centuryfrom James Vince

powered England to a con-vincing seven-wicket victo-ry over New Zealand in theopening T20 match inChristchurch on Friday.

Vince top-scored forthe tourists with 59 asEngland chased down NewZealand’s 154-run targetin 18.3 overs to take a 1-0lead in the five-matchseries.

While Vince’s man-of-the-match performancecaught the eye, captainEoin Morgan was also fullof praise for his bowlers,who laid the platform forvictory by restricting theBlack Caps to 153 for five.

“The game was wonand lost in the firstinnings... James Vinceplayed outstanding wellbut all credit to the bowlers

today,” he said.A three-wicket haul

from spinner MitchellSantner was not enough torescue the Black Caps,whose batting line-up failedto fire after Morgan wonthe toss and sent them in.

New Zealand’s regularcaptain Kane Williamson isout of the series with a hipinjury and the Black Capssorely missed his batting

prowess. Stand-in skipperTim Southee said there isroom for improvement inbowling, batting and field-ing.

“We were probably alittle bit off in all threeareas,” he said.

“We got a score on theboard that we felt we coulddefend but we were a littlebit off with the ball and inthe field, which didn’t help.”

������Openers Shubman Gilland Mayank Agarwal smashedspectacular hundreds beforeJalaj Saxena took a career-bestseven-wicket haul, steering IndiaC into the final of the DeodharTrophy with a massive 232-runwin over India A on Friday.

India C skipper Gill (143 off142) and Mayank Agarwal (120off 111) shared a 226-run standbefore a special knock fromSuryakumar Yadav (72 not outoff 29) propelled the team to366 for three in 50 overs.

India A were neverin the chase and off-spinner Saxena (7/41)ran through theirbatting line-upwith a memo-rable spell. Itwas India A’ssecond suc-cessive defeatin as manydays, knockingthem out ofthe tourna-ment.

India C and India B, whobeat India A on Thursday, willplay the final on Monday beforemeeting each other in the finalleague game today.

India C effectively battedIndia A out of the game withAgarwal and Gill piling up theruns. Gill hammered as many ashalf a dozen sixes besides 10fours on way to his highest score

in List A cricket.Agarwal carried

his stellar Test forminto the 50-over for-mat, collecting 15fours and a six.

Following theopeners’ double cen-

tury stand,Suryakumar gotinto the act and

showed why he isconsidered as a dan-gerous white-ball

batsman. The Mumbai cricketerclobbered nine fours and foursixes in his exhilarating knock,providing a perfect finish toIndia C innings. PTI

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Bangladesh coach Russell Domingoexpects the recent ban on ShakibAl Hasan will affect the team’s per-

formance against India in the upcom-ing T20 and Test series but is hopeful thathis players will step up to the challengeagainst the formidable hosts.

Bangladesh build-up to the three-match T20 and two-match Test assign-ment was dealt a huge blow when Shakibwas banned for two years, one year sus-pended, for failing to report three cor-rupt approaches from a suspected Indianbookie, a day before the team’s departure.

Ahead of the first T20I here at ArunJaitley stadium tomorrow, Domingoaddressed the issue and was candidenough to admit that the dressing roomis still recovering from the shock.

“He has been a big player forBangladesh and is close friends with alot of players. So it has obviously affect-ed a few players. Obviously he has madea mistake and he is paying the price forit,” Domingo said during a press meetafter a training session.

“There’s not much we can control.Obviously it affects the team’s perfor-mance but we need to be focused on theseries and the World Cup (T20),” headded.

Since Domingo took charge just amonth back, he didn’t really get achance to work with Shakib but what theSouth African understands is that theworld’s No 1 all-rounder commandshuge respect in the change room.

“I haven’t had a chance to know himpersonally but players have a greatrespect for him. But as I said, he hasmade a mistake and paid the price forit.”

The coach admitted that Shakib’sdual skills, which fetched him more11,000 runs and over 500 wickets acrossthree formats, will be sorely missed.

“He bats at No 3. Often, he opensthe bowling, bowls first change, bowlsfour overs in every game, he is one of ourleading batters. So you need to decidewhether you replace the batsman or doyou replace the bowler.

“Because you can’t replace both asit is very difficult to get players who pro-vide both skills. So you might find your-self short in some department andstrengthened in one department,”Domingo explained.

He is fully aware of his team’s lim-ited resources as Tamim Iqbal is also outdue to personal commitments andwants to make optimal use of the talent

he has at his disposal.“It will depend on conditions. If the

pitch is flat, we will have an extra bowlerand if the pitch does a little, may be havean extra batsman. It is very difficult tofill Shakib’s shoes but those availableshould try their best to get those num-bers,” he said.

Domingo, however, is not sure howShakib’s reintegration will happen afterone year.

“One year in cricketing terms is along time and I haven’t thought aboutit. How Shakib will be integrated in theteam has neither crossed my mind northe players’ mind,” he said.

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Be it a Test match, an ODI, a T20Ior an Indian Premier League

game, the square at the ArunJaitley Stadium has over the yearsalways been a talking point. Andwhile it has often been on the linesof how it doesnt let batsmen playtheir shots freely, things havechanged for the better in the lastfew years under curator AnkitDatta. And on Friday the Indianteam management was pleasantlysurprised to see freshness on thewickets.

Speaking about it, a member of

the team management said that itwas indeed a pleasant sight as T20wickets are expected to be onewhere there are plenty of runs onoffer and bowlers also get goodbounce and carry.

“It was the freshness whichpleased both the coaching staff ledby Ravi Shastri and stand-in skip-per Rohit Sharma. In fact, thewhole square looks very fresh,” themember said.

While a senior Delhi andDistrict Cricket Association(DDCA) official said that Ankitdeserves credit for keeping thewicket fresh and ready for thegame.

“Over the years, we have seena hundred games being played atthe Kotla through the year and nei-ther does Ankit get time to work onthe square, nor do the pitches getbreathing time. You cannot getquality wickets if non-stop match-es are played. But this time, heensured that the wickets weren’tused and they retained the fresh-ness,” the official said.

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The prevailing smoggyconditions in the nation-

al capital are not perfect,admitted Russell Domingobut said “no one is dying” aspollution is an issue in theircountry as well.

Domingo said gettingexposed to poor quality air inIndia was not as big a shockfor them as it is for someother countries.

Bangladesh players AlAmin, Abu Hider Rony and

team’s spin consultant DanielVettori were seen wearingmasks during their fieldingsession this morning.

“We know the SriLankans struggled last timeand look there’s a bit of pol-lution in Bangladesh as well,so it’s a not a massive shockunlike some other countries.The players have just got onwith the game and haven’tcomplained too much aboutit,” Domingo told reporters.

As the situation got bet-ter, the players removed their

masks, except Vettori andother non-Bangladeshi sup-port staff.

“It’s only three hours soit’s going to be easy. Theremaybe scratchy eyes, sorethroat but that’s ok. No oneis dying,” Domingo added.

He admitted that the sit-uation is not ideal and it’ssame for both teams.

“There’s no breeze butobviously not perfect weath-er with the smog. But itsame for both teams. Notperfect, not ideal but you

can’t complaint about and geton with the game,” the coachsaid.

When India’s battingcoach Vikram Rathour’sresponse was sought on pre-vail ing conditions, hesaid,”You are asking thewrong person.

I have played all mycricket in North India(Punjab and HimachalPradesh). Basically nothingspecial. There is pollutionbut a game has been sched-uled and we have to play.”

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India captain Rohit Sharma, who washit on his left abdomen during a net

session, has been declared “fit andavailable” for the first T20.

Rohit, who will leadIndia in the three-matchseries in Virat Kohli’sabsence, received the blowearly into the net sessionwhile taking throw-downs.

After a few throw-downs, one sharp deliv-ery hit Rohit on the insideregion of jios left thigh.

He immediately left the netsand it was visible that he wasn’thappy with the pace at whichthe throwdown delivery washurled at him.

“Rohit Sharma was hit onthe left side of his abdomenwhile batting in the nets.The BCCI medicalteam has confirmedthat he is fit and avail-

able for the first T20 after assess-ment of his injury,” the BCCImedia manager issued a state-ment on behalf of the team.

The Indian team has adesignated a left-armthrowdown expert in SriLanka’s Nuwan to counterleft-arm seamers in theopposition, MustafizurRahaman in this particu-lar series.

The practice ses-sion was a goodenough indicator thatSanju Samson will

not be keeping wickets ashe was seen fielding withothers and number onechoice Rishabh Pant wasseen devoting extra

time to his glove work.All eyes were on

big-hitting Mumbaiall-rounder ShivamDube who was seentalking to headcoach Ravi Shastri.

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Getting the core of play-ers right without too

much tinkering will beIndia’s priority going intothe 2020 T20 World Cup,batting coach VikramRathour said on Friday.

India will start theirthree-match T20 campaignagainst Bangladesh heretomorrow with an aim totest young players likeShivam Dube and SanjuSamson.

Rathour said thatexperiments can happenbut he is not in favour offrequent chop and change.

“You can’t be changingtoo much as well. I agree.But a big tournament iscoming so we need toknow the core of our teamand we need to maintainthat core,” Rathour saidduring the media confer-ence.

“And in between, tryout new players who arecoming through. If theywork out good for ourcombination, it will work

for our team,” saidRathour.

The former openingbatsman said that winningmatches while batting firstis one area the team needsto improve on.

“In the last series, wedeliberately batted first inone game which we lost.That’s one are we need towork on. We need to batbetter when we bat first.We chase pretty well,”explained Rathour.

He is happy with thekind of talent pool avail-able in Indian cricket.

“Extremely excitingtimes when you see young-sters coming through,doing well in domesticcricket and come into theIndian team,” he said.

T20 is perhaps oneformat where teams don’tmiss their star playersmuch, he said.

“Missing out top play-ers of course makes a dif-ference but T20 is the onlyformat where you don’tmiss them too much,” headded.

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get used to it. It’s always about experience andknowing how the ball is behaving,” he said.

Pujara had complained about sighting the ballunder lights in the 2016-17 season but he claimsto be better-prepared now.

“The more we play, the more we gain expe-rience of how to tackle the ball. Every ball has itschallenges. I don’t think it will require a hugechange to shift from red ball to pink ball. The rea-son is it’s the same format. We are still playing afive-day match,” the 31-year-old said.

“Yes, under lights, it will be different. But it’sabout getting used to the pink ball. That’s whatI feel. Rest, I don’t think will be a major differ-ence. Once we play some Test matches, we willbe able to know the exact difference and canimprovise.”

Apart from Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, RishabhPant, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami andWriddhiman Saha, from the current Indian Testsquad, have the experience of playing with a pinkball at the domestic level.

Summing up the mood in the camp, he said:“We won’t have any issue. Most of the guys haveplayed in Duleep Trophy and for the ones whohave not played, it would be a good learning curvefor them.”

“The help for the bowlers could come at a dif-ferent times unlike the traditional Tests. It couldbe under lights or without lights. Once we play,we will get to know about all such things. We willhave to adapt to it as quickly as possible.” ����%��������������$���������������!�������� ��%��*����������� �*+

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Ahead of scheduled T20 match in cap-ital tomorrow, the South Delhi

Municipal Corporation (SDMC) hasdeployed a huge manpower to control airand dust pollution near stadium situatedin Central Zone of the civic body.

The civic body has taken a slew ofmeasures including 12 water sprinklersand 10 mechanical sweepers to controldust pollution. Besides, the civic body hasalso deployed approx 50 safai karamcharisto ensure sanitation and cleanliness tocombat dust pollution.

As per the instructions of theCommissioner, patrolling teams havebeen constituted to take instant actionagainst violators in the areas around thestadium, the civic body said in a statement.

“The Licensing department has beenauthorized to take strict action againstburning of garbage, construction activi-ties, ‘Construction and Demolition’ wastedumping etc,” it said.

The move came after EnvironmentPollution (Prevention and Control)Authority (EPCA) declared a publichealth emergency in the Delhi in the wakeof rising level of pollution.

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